Chp.19: Let's negotiate

While Rhaegal was busy showing Gerard what was happening in the labor camps, Corgorin momentarily dropped the connection to her avatar and informed Haku that the man he was waiting for had finally arrived and that their brother was already worrying to provide him with all the necessary evidence. After hearing this news, Haku had decided to intervene personally. After all, he had a lot to talk about with Gerard and which were to be reported to the king.

So he had borrowed Rhaegal's old avatar, which was on board as it served to keep up appearances during inspections. It wasn't the first time he had maneuvered a foreign body (he had already done it since his siblings had taught him during those four months), but it was the first time he had done it with one so big. The avatar Rhaegal had created for himself, after all, fit the definition of 'perfect adventurer': tall, muscular, masculine and strong. Haku would have preferred to use a slimmer and less bulky body, but there was no point in complaining at the moment, so he made what he had available fit. To avoid confusion he had modified his appearance a lot using the invisibility rune: while remaining huge and full of muscles, he had made his face more well-groomed, his skin lighter, his black hair combed in a way that reminded him of his horns, his eyes golden and slightly pointed nose. As clothes he had chosen to use a completely black suit, with a small black and red cloak on the back, white and refined gloves, the waistcoat slightly open showing a white shirt underneath and leather boots also black. The end result satisfied him somewhat; although dragons normally don't wear clothes, that doesn't mean they don't have attention for style, and Haku felt that those clothes fit his personality (obviously such clothes weren't real but only illusions, but that wasn't a reason not to make them beautiful).

Gerard until a few seconds before would have never believed that a dragon would have been able to disguise himself so well; his expression was really priceless. However, this upheaval didn't last long; after an initial moment of bewilderment, Gerard immediately recovered his lucidity and quickly connected the clues. "So this is the method you use to disguise yourself as humans, mh?" he muttered. "What is it? A golem or necromancy?"

"We can say that it is neither or both" Haku replied quietly.

Gerard rubbed his chin inquisitively. "Mh. I've heard of magic that allows people to control other bodies, but this is the first time I've seen one this perfect. Normally a remote controlled body would show some signs that it's not real, but I don't see any of them in this one"

"Oh, that's not because of the connection between my mind and this body. It's another magic that makes it so perfect" Haku replied, deliberately remaining vague. Even if humans didn't know the invisibility rune, he had no reason to reveal too much. "We've used this method to hide among humans a few times. It's very useful and permit us to avoid unnecessary risks... although someone here seem to think otherwise"

Rhaegal turned his head away in embarrassment. He knew Haku wouldn't appreciate the fact that he decided to reveal himself to Gerard. In fact, when Corgorin had told him Haku had almost fainted, and after recovering he had said not very nice things towards his brother. What utter idiot could think that revealing to an envoy of the king that there was another dragon around was a good idea? Even though Haku thought highly of Marcus and aimed to use him as an ally, he had no doubts that the king would use any method to get his hands on a live dragon. After all, as he had already understood from his previous experience, capturing a dragon had enormous political and military value if you could bend it and make it pledge allegiance. If Haku was in Marcus's shoes, he would have at least tried to use that opportunity. Therefore, revealing that there was a second dragon roaming was sheer madness. But the damage was done now, so he'd taken a deep breath and decided he'd think about repairing the damage later. The only silver lining to this story was that at least her sisters had had the good sense not to reveal themselves and that the newcomers had a strong (justified) belief that dragons were opportunistic solitary creatures, so in all likelihood no one would understand that there were more dragons… although there was the possibility, however remote, that by observing their behavior Gerard could theorize it, but it was precisely a more unique than rare eventuality.

Haku glared at Rhaegal for a couple of seconds, then he turned back to Gerard. "Well, well, let's talk business. As I was saying, you have a big problem and we have a solution that everyone will like. Please write down what I'm about to tell you, but… I'm pretty sure you're already recording our conversation, am I right?"

Gerard's facial features hardened slightly, then he opened his jacket revealing a small magical object resembling a glittering orb. "So did you know?"

"Oh, yeah. I have a couple of mage friends who are very, very good" Haku replied grabbing the orb without even asking him and looking at it in his hands. "If I remember correctly, this is called a recordator. An instrument that, once activated, keeps any voice or sound wave in general nearby, and can reproduce it at will. Making it isn't too difficult, but you need at least a level diamond spellcaster. I am wrong?"

Gerard was somewhat annoyed. He hadn't expected the dragon to possess such vast magical knowledge, at least in that field. It seemed that he was really ready for anything. "You're not wrong" he answered to his question.

"As I expected. I assume you turned it on just before you approached Sarah, right?" Haku continued. "It was obvious. If by any chance this turned out to be a trap and you died, at least if your corpse was recovered the king could find out what had happened. It wasn't a foolish move... but it was still predictable". Haku tossed the orb to Gerard, who caught it quickly. "Well, that's good anyway. At least, the king will be able to hear from my own mouth the words I intend to convey to him. I prefer this way in truth, I've always considered myself a person... very persuasive"

Gerard put the orb back in his jacket, but this time he didn't hide it like he had before. After all, if Haku already knew of his existence, there was no point in hiding it. "Okay. You wanted to speak, so speak. You have my word that I will bring this recordator to the ruler personally"

"Just as I hoped. Well, in that case first let me pay my respects to His Majesty, and tell him that I hope he is in good health and stays that way for a long time" Haku said in a clear tone of taunt, causing Rhaegal to giggle. Then he turned serious. "Anyway, let's get to the point. I'm sure that when the king hears these words from me he will already be aware of the situation here, and that he will have already understood the consequences that such actions will have... but I still want to list them personally. The whole ex Baudonia City Alliance, if no one does anything, will soon revolt, and as a result his majesty will be forced to take drastic measures, effectively bending to the will of Carrion and the corrupt nobles, merchants and priests. This would be bad for the image of the king, but will also provide additional power and wealth to the noble factions and, consequently, to his political opponents. Also, with the enslavement of all beastmen will create a huge vacuum here, in what is now is known as the Province of Baudonia, which if not filled quickly will surely be used by another nation, probably the eastern empires or their affiliates, to occupy that territory. he will solve it by giving the poor and unfortunate a home. Thousands of people will have to be driven from their place of origin and forced to start a new life elsewhere, in unknown territory. The kingdom's economy will rapidly subside, protests will run rampant, and there is a high probability that new revolts will break out among the slaves of each city, plunging the nation into chaos. Even if there is a good chance that the Jurao Kingdom can handle all this, it will still take years, decades to return to its current glory"

Gerard couldn't help but clench his fists. It almost seemed that the dragon was having fun listing the misfortunes. "It doesn't matter. Soon the king will regain control and..."

"And what? What do you think will happen at that time?" Haku asked again with an increasingly evident grin. "For starters, do you think the lizardmen, tigermen and lionmen will still accept being ruled by humans? And the rest of the beastmen, how will they react when they know that their captors have not been punished? After all, Carrion cannot be tried and convicted, as a legendary level he's too important. Imagine how happy the beastmen will be to be ruled by a king who has not only shown that he has no control over his army, but also that he does no justice. What about the rest of the kingdom? How much will his popularity drop? How easily will nobles and opponents take advantage of this to gain more power? And on the international front, how will other nations react when they hear about this? That would be even worse publicity than the previous one. There is a good chance that the Jurao Kingdom will not only lose its lead of the alliance, but also be thrown out and penalized with sanctions". Haku approached Gerard even more, and then said in a melodramatic tone: "It would be such a bad scenario, so undesirable! Wouldn't it be better for everyone if the problems just disappeared? What if there were no witnesses and if everyone came out victorious?"

Gerard narrowed his eyes. He knew the dragon wasn't blustering: he wasn't a political expert, but he understood international balances well enough to understand how it worked. "Okay, you have my attention. What do you propose?"

"Propose? I don't propose anything. I state facts. Within two weeks, there will be no more witnesses and everything that happened will be settled properly" Haku replied. "In two weeks, a horrific plague will tragically break through all the labor camps. The causes will be poor sanitation due to the fact that public funds were being stolen by corrupt officials. The epidemic, unfortunately, will kill all the prisoners of the labor camps, who had worked so hard to earn their redemption and become citizens of the Jurao Kingdom. With them will also die all the soldiers who were guarding them, as well as many army officers who happen to be very close to Carrion. The epidemic could expand rapidly, but fortunately the wise King Marcus after being warned will choose to come here in person. First he will send a group of officers loyal to him to each city, gaining control over the army and proclaiming certain rules of hygiene to prevent the spread of the epidemic. He will bring food and medicine to everyone, and the people will see him as a hero. He will also remove the priests he had sent here in order to protect them from disease, since such holy people should absolutely not risk their lives. And finally, the king will declare his indignation after discovering the causes of the epidemic and will severely punish those responsible. Among them, however, there won't be the high royal general Carrion, who given his noble heart certainly could not be an accomplice to all this, but this had happened without him realizing it. At best, he could just be called negligent. Carrion will be so good that he will even decide to stay behind in an attempt to save as many people as possible, but unfortunately he will fail. The king will still reward his bravery by relieving him of his duties and offering him an indefinite holiday at his country estate… some might call it detention, but only a fool would think so, right? The epidemic will be stemmed within a few weeks, but unfortunately the result will be the total disappearance of the peoples of the lizardmen, tigermen, lionmen and most of the soldiers most loyal to Carrion. There won't even be any bodies to bury because they will all have been burned. So what do you think? Not a bad official story, right?"

Gerard widened his eyes. That story that the dragon had created was incredibly realistic and believable, and it would have make the king appear as a great ruler, and even the beastmen would have loved him. Of course, some of his political opponents could have accused him of having allowed the spread of corruption... but after all, the sovereign would have officially intervened promptly when he had discovered it. And not only that... this could also give him the excuse to impose new laws against the corruption of officials and to guarantee their control. "What about all the other witnesses? The beastmen who live in the cities?"

"They don't know what happens in the labor camps, we've already checked that" Haku replied. "They believe that lizardmen, tigermen, and lionmen have been punished for their contributions to warfare, but that that punishment is based on ordinary work. Of course, that doesn't mean they suspect nothing... but for anything, even misfortunes that have been perpetuated against the other beastmen by the extremist priests and soldiers, the king can simply blame the corrupt officers. No one will suspect that there was a giant conspiracy behind it all. Fortunately, Carrion has focused more on pissing off the three peoples he has taken captive". Haku gave an amused grin. "Of course, the king could be forced to promulgate some provisions in favor of the population to be forgiven, or to donate a part of the treasury... but nothing he can't handle, am I right?"

Gerard was sweating. He should have been grateful that a solution to the problem had been offered so quickly, but he couldn't help but feel awed by the dragon. "So... I imagine that in reality, in two weeks, your men will take over the labor camps, kill the soldiers and take away the prisoners, while the officers loyal to the king that he sends will take over the cities preventing the rest of the army discover everything and go after you?"

"Exactly. I see we understand each other"

"And what about Carrion?"

"Carrion is my problem. Don't worry, I won't kill him, but I'll make sure to inflict a beating on him that he won't forget too soon. But be clear, this will only apply to our first fight. If after that he will be stubborn enough to try to chase me, I will erase him from this world. In that case, officially the brave Carrion will have been died heroically while trying to protect everyone from the disease, and was infected because of it"

Gerard swallowed. He knew it was logically impossible, but something inside of him told him that this dragon really could defeat Carrion. "What will you do after you'll free everyone?"

"That's my problem too. You don't have to worry, you have my word that you won't see a lizardman, tigerman or lionman again in these lands, and that no one will ever know anything" Haku replied. "All you have to do is avoid standing in our way. Just keep the population and soldiers in the cities for a couple of weeks. At that point, I'll consider our debt paid and everyone will go their separate ways"

The last part did not please Gerard. "Our debt? What debt?"

"What? Seriously, haven't you been informed? I'm talking about the fact that I was righteous enough to not destroy half of the kingdom"

"What!?"

"Come on, you should know by now. 'The spider' is under my control. One word from me and the criminals from all over the kingdom will rise up and burn cities to the ground. They will set fires, tear down buildings, kill, rape and steal everything. Surely eventually the army will stop them, but at what price? What will be left will be a devastated kingdom. I could do it right now... but since I am so magnanimous, I will give up this little project. But that puts you indebted to me... but if you do as I tell you, I will consider the debt paid"

Gerard turned purple. "This... this is blackmail!"

"Call it what you want, even 'mandolin' if you like. From my point of view, this is a gentlemen's deal where everyone can win... or everyone can lose". Haku grinned. "I'd say we're done. You only have two weeks left, Gerard, so you'd better hurry. You'll be back in the capital in less than ten days on the fastest ship, after which the king can send his loyal officers here using the rapid wyvern flight. Make sure you're on time... I don't like people that arrive in late"

Gerard was by now sweating so much that his clothes were starting to get soaked. That dragon was really terrifying. He had planned everything out in detail and made sure he couldn't take 'no' for an answer. He was a real monster strategist. Following his advice, he hurried off the boat to look for another one to go back.

Before he could get completely off the bridge though, Haku came out and said: "Oh, Gerard, one last thing... please tell His Majesty that I enjoyed our game too, and that I don't hold a grudge against him. I would have done worse in his place, after all"

And having said that, he disappeared back into the hold. Gerard didn't know what the dragon was referring to, but it didn't matter: he knew that Haku was actually speaking directly with the king, since his voice would have reached him thanks to the recordator. He would know what the dragon meant. With that last thought, he stepped off the boat.