Chp.17: Finding loopholes
"He's tyrannical!" Malchia exclaimed furiously. "He might as well have asked us to clean his shoes with our tongues! That king wants to humiliate us!"
As Haku had guessed, his sisters hadn't taken the ransom conditions very well. Indeed, he could safely say that they were furious. Accepting such conditions would have been a real stab for their dragon pride, but above all it would have made them vulnerable and exposed to serious risks. It was natural that they were not at all happy with the turn events were taking. "He doesn't want to humiliate us" Haku tried to say. "These conditions serve to put him in an advantageous position. He wants to be sure that he can oppose us in case a conflict arises between us in the future. In his place I would..."
"Excuse me, but which side are you on?" Glausar growled angrily, glaring at him with fiery eyes.
Haku didn't answer; he had long since learned that, save in cases of absolute emergency, it was best not to respond to a furious dragoness. Living with fourteen sisters had taught him when it was time to shut up. And that was one of those moments.
Even Haku was furious for the harsh conditions that the king had imposed on him, but nevertheless he understood his reasons well. After all, as a ruler he was responsible for ensuring the absolute security of his kingdom. Leaving a dangerous variable like Haku around would have been too huge a risk. Therefore, it was natural that he wanted to force him to relinquish much of the power he had over him. In a way, Haku was pretty sure that if it wasn't for the control he had over the realm Marcus wouldn't have minded having a friendly relationship with him; but this, for obvious reasons, could only exist after Haku accepted his terms. If Haku was sure of that, perhaps he might even consider accepting, despite his dragon pride... but since there was no certainty, he couldn't take such a big risk. He had to be very careful. "Let's forget for a moment the conditions imposed by the king and think of Rhaegal" he said, drawing his sisters' attention back to him. "We have now reduced the search area to just four hundred square meters, and we have another three days to spare. We will take advantage of this to..."
"Why don't we try looking into the tower?" Kotaru rightly asked. "You said there are stairs that go underground. He could be held there"
"No" Haku immediately replied. "I don't think he's in the tower at all"
His sisters were surprised by such confidence. "Why?" they asked almost in unison.
Haku didn't really know how to answer. He well remembered the king's words: the priests allowed them to use the tower as long as they didn't shed blood or desecrate that place. And for some reason, that remark had convinced him that Rhaegal couldn't be in there… though he didn't know why. "The king told me he can't profane that temple, and from the tone in which he said it, I'm sure he meant it. Consequently it cannot hold a prisoner within it" he said, grabbing the first available excuse.
"I don't think he had any problems with Thora and the other lizardmen" Corgorin noted, who remembered how Zamor's wife had been held captive in a temple.
That objection was legitimate. "True, but in that case it wasn't imprisonment, but a sort of rehabilitation. Thora wasn't kept in chains and immobilized. The situation was different" Haku answered, then he hurried to find other excuses. "Also, when Rhaegal described the room he's in, he told me it was a small place. The rooms in that tower all seem to be huge. And the stone the tower is made of doesn't match the stone Rhaegal gave me. described for his prison. And finally..."
He remained silent for a moment, as if he wasn't sure what to say. His sisters couldn't help but notice his upset. "And finally?" Kotaru asked him in a slightly worried voice.
Haku snorted. "There's something in that tower. Something sinister. I don't know how to explain it, but even with my avatar I sensed that something was constantly watching me. When I asked Rhaegal for clues about his imprisonment, he didn't even mentioned it, and I doubt he wouldn't have if he was imprisoned in that place. Trust me, it's a really strong and unpleasant sensation"
That explanation seemed to be sufficient. His sisters looked at each other and nodded, as if they understood where Haku's confidence was coming from. If indeed there was something in the tower capable of activating a dragon's survival instinct even if it was only using an avatar, then there was no way Rhaegal hadn't noticed. And Sisna and Corgorin and Jatara well remembered the sense of danger they had felt even looking at the tower from afar; even if Rhaegal had been kept underground, he would have sensed something.
Seeing that he had convinced them, Haku returned to the main topic: "As I was saying, we will use these three days to intensify the searches in the area we have limited. I think it would be appropriate to modify the bodies of the mice so that they are more sensitive to vibrations It wouldn't hurt to create some sort of echolocation like bats, that way we could sense any underground cavities. In the meantime, Maldor, I'd like you to research the invisibility rune based on what I've discovered"
After figuring out how the legendary levels perceive the invisibility rune illusion, Haku absolutely wanted to find a solution to that problem. And given the situation, it was imperative that we find her as soon as possible. Unfortunately, Haku was well aware that identifying the cause of an illness didn't mean knowing its cure, therefore he couldn't blame Maldor who, while saying nothing, clearly showed a somewhat insecure look, and perhaps even a little stressed. "Anyway, despite all our efforts, we have no guarantee that we will be able to find Rhaegal within three days. And even if we succeed, we cannot know if we will be able to free him" Haku continued. "Therefore we will have to act as if an agreement were really the only possible option"
"You really don't want to accept such conditions!" Malchia exclaimed, receiving the assent of many others.
"Of course not. But that's exactly why we have to think assuming that we will be forced to pay the ransom, because only in this way will we be able to prepare in advance for a decent negotiation" Haku answered. "Now we know what the king wants, and if we have no other options we will be forced to accept. Therefore we must find a way to emerge victorious from these pacts"
Now her sisters felt more at ease. That was Haku's typical way of thinking: constantly trying to get the most out of every situation. "I assume you've already thought of something, right?" Tikka asked.
Haku nodded. "I still don't have a solution for all three conditions, but I managed to find a loophole in at least two"
"I think I already guessed one" Sisna said with an amused smile. "The king has asked you to deliver 'The spider' to him... but you can't do it, because you don't command it! That's what you'll answer him, right?"
Sisna had nailed it very well. In fact, that was exactly Haku's plan. "Exactly. I'm going to tell him, under an oath that will ensure my absolute sincerity, that I'm not the boss of 'The spider'... because you are, sister. You're the one who handled all the operations of the organization. I don't I have never ordered or imposed anything on you; I have only asked you, as a good brother, if you could do certain things for me. This isn't commanding, it is simply two siblings helping each other. Consequently, I cannot call myself the boss of 'The spider', only Sisna can" he explained. "Once I make such a statement, I will offer the king an alternative condition: the identity of the true leader of 'The spider'. At that point I will be forced to reveal the involvement of the merchant Sisna Drachia, and surely the king will send someone to arrest her... but tragically she, in order to avoid being captured, will commit suicide by completely destroying her body and leaving no trace of herself"
"I understand what the next step will be. Since only the top management of 'The spider' know my true identity, my 'death' won't cause any turmoil within the ranks of the organization. I just need to warn the aforementioned top management and order them to continue to act as they always have. At which point I will return with a new avatar and a new identity, and 'The spider' will therefore remain under my total control" Sisna said with a smile that became larger every second.
starting to become useless since the earnings obtained thanks to the criminal organization they were much greater. It was probable that the king would keep trying to dismantle 'The spider' somehow, and maybe sooner or later he would succeed... but still it would take months and it would give them a chance to use 'The spider' to get larger quantities of food and thus be able to avoid running the risk of starving their allies.
It was a perfect plan. Marcus couldn't have understood the dragon's true intentions as he would have sworn that what he was saying was the truth, and a dragon's oath could not be broken. Haku would have given Marcus a name and a face, but such things were useless to him and his sisters since they had numerous avatars at their disposal. Thus, Haku could fulfill the first condition of the deal by turning it around in his favor and screwing the king completely.
"So, we can emerge victorious on at least one condition" Keita murmured in a satisfied voice. "And the second one? You said you had a solution for that too"
"Actually no, I don't have a solution for the second condition yet. I said that I had the solution for two out of three conditions. Speaking of the third condition, I plan to offer the king an alternative" Haku replied. "Instead of telling him how we defeated Carrion, I'll tell him that man's secret. A secret that, if used well, would allow the king to keep him in check forever"
Haku was obviously referring to the fact thar Carrion actually was a beastman. He had no problem using that secret as a bargaining chip: he had made it very clear to Carrion that he would reveal it if it was useful for him. Haku didn't care about the man's feelings, or any kind of mutual respect; he didn't give a damn about such nonsense. Up to that moment he hadn't revealed anything to anyone because in this way that secret had kept its value; if he revealed it, it would no longer be of use to him. He certainly hadn't done it out of pity or anything like that. He was a dragon, and as such he was an opportunist. If he had treasure in his hands, he made sure to make it worth as much as possible so that when the time came to use it he would get the most efficiency out of it.
His sisters felt the same way. That secret had great value as a bargaining chip, so it was a must to use it. With the right words, Haku would most likely have been able to convince the king to accept that alternative. And so they would be able to keep to themselves not only 'The spider', but also a good part of their military and strategic knowledge. "And what about the condition of revealing our knowledge of the runes to him?" Serengal asked.
Haku shook his head. "I still don't have a solution for that. I'll think about it in these three days. In the meantime, let's focus on finding our brother.
His sisters looked a little disappointed, but after all Haku couldn't always think of everything. He too needed time to reflect. He had already gotten two out of three solutions, and that was enough for the day. Therefore, they turned their attention back to locating Rhaegal and possibly saving him.