Chp.3: Find an informant

While Misune finished cleaning his teeth, Haku continued to think, and in the end he came to the usual conclusion he had always come to in the previous days: there was only one way to be able to solve the last two problems, and that was to rely on a third part, someone who could actively help him. However, this opened up a number of possibilities that could have ruined his plan in an instant.

Let's start with the knowledge of the city plan. This was definitely the simplest to solve: he would just question the right person and then 'silence' them in the usual way he always used. He was a witness after all, so best to eliminate him now. However, Haku wasn't sure he could find an expert on city streets among the gladiators; after all, many of them were nonhumans, a sign that they probably came from other lands, so they were unlikely to be familiar with the place. The same was true for slaves. In reality, going around interrogating people and killing them after obtaining information would have risked worsening his position: up to that moment the peace between him and the gladiators had continued since they were convinced that he didn't kill unless provoked, but if Haku started interrogating random people and killing them, they would feel threatened and might gang up and try to assault him in his sleep. Although Haku was confident that he could defeat them, he still preferred to avoid a direct confrontation.

As for how to escape, this was even more complicated. The easiest thing would have been to convince the other gladiators to start a riot, pretend not to be involved, and then escape using the invisibility rune while the guards were focused on them. However, convincing the gladiators to risk their lives was not going to be easy. Haku couldn't think of a deception that could have worked. Even if he had convinced them to fight with the false promise of helping them, they would have immediately noticed his deception, and once questioned by the guards they would have immediately revealed his escape. Haku might not have made it to the outside of the city in time.

As a result, Haku was treading on extremely dangerous ground. The slightest mistake could be fatal to him. If he wanted to use others to succeed in achieving his goal, he would have to be impeccable in his every move.

The dragon decided to focus first on discovering the layout of the city. That was a simpler problem. However, as mentioned earlier, he couldn't just go around interrogating and killing anyone who came his way, so he had to be more subtle. He had to choose the person to talk to and make sure it was the right one. "Misune" he said as soon as the slave was out of his mouth. "You talk to the other slaves in your dormitory, right?"

The half-elf looked up at him, clearly taken aback. Haku rarely spoke to her, and when he did it was almost always orders, not questions; or rather, he had often asked questions, but never personal. "Yes, I talk to the other slaves, sir" she confirmed.

Haku scratched his chin with his paw. "Mh. As you well know, Misune, I'm interested in learning more about the city where we are. So, since you talk to the other slaves... tell me, which of the gladiators present here is the one who could best describe it to me?"

Haku obviously never revealed his intentions to Misune. He couldn't know if the king or his underlings interrogated her as soon as she was out of his sight. Therefore, he had been on the defensive with her for a long time. It was only after nearly half a year, after six months that he'd never caught the smell of the king or the two legendary levels he knew on the slave girl (although he'd kept open the possibility of her being washed, though it was clear she often didn't wash more than once a week), he had finally decided to take the risk and ask her questions. Of course, he hadn't told her that he planned to escape: he had passed off his interest as a desire to learn more about the human way of life. After all, he was still a stranger in a strange land, it was natural that he wanted to learn. Haku was sure that if the king questioned Misune he would immediately understand his machinations, but since it didn't seem like that was happening, he decided he could talk to her; but since he had been very vague, she would hardly have understood his intentions and consequently she wouldn't be a snitch.

Now, it was time to ask for her help again. Since she talked to the other slaves, they were likely to tell her something about the gladiators they served; and while Misune wasn't particularly attentive, she surely knew which gladiators were more experienced than the capital.

In fact, Misune didn't make the classic stupid face that she exhibited when he asked her a question she didn't know how to answer, but on the contrary she began to reflect, a sign that she knew the answer but that she wanted to make sure she wasn't wrong. "Well… there are some who have lived in the capital for some time. You could ask them, sir"

Haku smirked, trying hard not to seem too mean, but evidently failing as the slave visibly shivered. Probably, this was due to the enormous teeth that protruded through his lips and which made it practically impossible for him to give a smile that did not resemble the grin of a wild beast. "Point them to me. Tell me their names, and describe them to me. As you well know, I don't have a good reputation here, so I'd like to know as much as possible about them before going to talk to them, so as to avoid misunderstandings"

The half-elf wanted to remind the dragon that it was he who had built the reputation he was now criticizing, but she had the common sense not to let the words leave her mouth... or perhaps they were blocked by her fear and his survival instinct. From the first days they had been together they had learned that there was absolutely no need to contradict the dragon, even when he was doing or saying something she thought was wrong. So she just looked at the gladiators and raised her finger at one of them. "That one over there. His name is Borson"

Haku looked at the gladiator in question. He was a tigerman about two meters tall with shoulders as broad as a closet and muscles as hard as steel. He had a large scar over his left eye and part of his right ear was cut off. He wore clothes made of bearskin and was barefoot, leaving the claws of his feet free. His tail wagged behind him like a small snake. "A beastman, mh? Is he a prisoner of war?"

"Not exactly. Borson lived in the Jurao Kingdom for many years as an adventurer" Misune explained. "He used to work in the capital's adventurers guild, so he knows it well. He also used to travel to other cities, if it may interest you, sir"

Haku was immediately interested. The adventurers guild was an important building, so it had to be at least in the merchant district; therefore, the tigerman must have had some knowledge of it. Also, since he was an adventurer, he most likely had to go out and into the city constantly due to his work, therefore he must have been a great connoisseur of streets and alleys and could have shown him the fastest escape route. He was clearly a good candidate for his interrogation. "Why is he here, if he's not a prisoner of war?"

Misune shrugged. "For the same reason I'm here: debts. Apparently he has a gambling habit. Even among gladiators he often makes bets. He has accumulated large debts through gambling, and in the end his creditors have had no other choice but to seize all his possessions and sell him as a slave. Since he looked quite handsome and was good at fighting, he was sold to the arena and became a gladiator"

Haku wasn't surprised that a beastman could actually be a citizen of the Jurao Kingdom; he had expected that nation to be inhabited only by humans, just as the ogre tribes were inhabited only by ogres and the fairy city was inhabited only by fairies, but it seemed that for the larger nations the division wasn't so clear-cut. From what Misune had explained to him, even though humans made up the majority of the population (judging by the number of humans and non-humans who showed up in the stands to watch his fights, Haku assumed they must be at least eighty percent, at least there in the capital), other races still lived there in the Jurao Kingdom and didn't suffer from any lesser social condition, even if they were often victims of a certain hatred on the part of humans, the typical hatred of those who didn't want other races in the their vicinity. As a result, a beastman could well live as an ordinary adventurer, even if he was in the Jurao Kingdom and not in the now disappear Baudonia City Alliance.

Haku was initially confused, but then thinking about it he realized that this was actually normal. A nation as large as the Jurao Kingdom would certainly have contained several races within it, therefore exterminating them all would have meant decreasing the population and consequently productivity, impoverishing the nation, and the king would have had to wait for humans to multiply by themselves enough to restore old productivity. Considering that the Jurao Kingdom had also recently annexed new territories full of beastmen, it was absurd to think that it could manage them by eliminating all beastmen. The king would only get empty and barren lands which would earn him nothing. And keeping the beastmen or other races in slavery, or in any case in a lower social condition, was also not a good idea: this would have fueled their discontent and would have planted the seeds of revolt, which would have broken out as soon as the kingdom showed signs of weakness. A single event such as war, famine, or epidemic could easily ignite the spark of dissatisfaction that would escalate into civil war, devastating the whole nation. Therefore it was much more convenient for a wise and crafty king, like Marcus was, to integrate conquered peoples rather than kill or enslave them.

In any case, the tigerman named Borson seemed like an individual capable of providing him with the information he needed, but Haku felt that he wasn't enough. He certainly knew many roads well, but they would almost certainly be the main roads, and Haku hoped to know some faster and more hidden shortcuts. "Okay. Can you point me to someone else?"

Misune pointed to another gladiator. This time it was a human, just one meter and seventy tall and with a very lean physique; some might have thought that he was not a serious threat, but Haku knew a fighter when he saw one, and knew that in reality that individual was a skilled warrior who relied on speed and agility in a duel. "That one is Feragus. He became a slave as a punishment. He was once a merchant, but he made his fortune by threatening his customers and forcing them into bad deals. To scare them away, he used a small group of criminals he created and trained, whom he sent all over the city through precise routes to avoid the guards. He managed to avoid detection for over a year before being caught and captured. He should have been locked up in prison, but given his skills it was decided to have him serve his sentence here, so that at least he could be useful as a gladiator"

This one was definitely more interesting. If that human was such an expert on alleyways and streets avoided by the guards, then surely he could provide Haku with valuable information. Unfortunately, however, his influence seemed to stop at the merchant district, so he would hardly have provided useful information on the common district; after all, why should a merchant deal with the commoners? Not to mention that they would certainly have accepted his disadvantageous agreements even without threat: they were very ignorant people, so it would have been easy for a good merchant to deceive them. This made difficult for Feragus to know anything about the common district, which Haku would have to cross to get out of the city. "Okay. Who else?"

Misune pointed to a gladiator sitting in the corner. He was a lizardman about six feet tall, with rather broad shoulders and green scales. "He is Zamor. He commanded a gang in the common district for about three months, and is said to have been involved in plans to create assassinations against the king, although this has never been proven"

This one was perfect! Haku was beaming: surely, that lizardman would have been able to accurately describe the common district to him! Thanks to his knowledge, Haku could have mapped out the perfect path to escape the city as quickly as possible! "Fine. I'll go talk to him" he said, standing up. The other gladiators froze: the dragon rarely got up unless the guards came to call him. From their point of view, this could only mean trouble.

But before Haku could even take a step, the door flew open and a guard appeared: "Dragon, you have to come"

Haku was surprised. "I just finished my fight" he said.

"It's not about the fight. Your presence is required for another reason" the guard replied blankly, then motioned him out quickly and not to ask any questions.

Haku knew that this must mean the king was up to something. That couldn't be any good. But despite this, he obeyed and walked out of the dormitory.