208. RACKETEERING: TABITHA

“That will send us broke,” I told Wiremu. “Every sizable town will have a Slave Taskmaster. Cities will have more, and the army will have their own. We are talking hundreds, possibly a thousand. They have 26 provinces with a major city in each. Four or five per city. Each city will have six to eight sizable towns, that is three hundred right there. The army will have at least that many again.”

“So six hundred-ish,” Wiremu said. “The army’s slavers will be the most protected and towns the least protected.”

“Until the contract becomes known, then they will all hire protection.” I countered, “We will have to work that into the price.”

“Even if this contract culls a hundred Slave Taskmasters, that will put a lot of pressure on the empire and slow down slavery.” Wiremu countered.

“Let me see if I can work out a price that we can then see about finding funding for. You realise a contract of this size is usually only used in wartime and backed by a country. The Kingdom won’t want their name attached to it, which means more cost up front for us.”

“If you need a name for the Mercenary Guild, use mine. Wiremu Hunter. I will return the contract they put on me.”

“This is returning it a hundredfold.”

Wiremu left me to it. This is going to require a lot of thought and planning. My Racketeering Class has been stagnant for quite some time. If this isn’t large organised crime, I don’t know what is.

Fortunately, my plate is now clear of other tasks. The performances have ended, and the King's task is done except for one missing Marquee. If the King can’t find him, he shouldn’t be king. Tāttā has the Elemental Traders in hand, so it is back to my roots for me. Crime. I have a good network all up the coast and back down to Jern. Now I need a hub in Kirghiz to consolidate and feed the funds that we will need.

The Fiske Crime Guild is the obvious one for me to work with, as they are already in the import and export business. My early approaches were rebuffed, but I now have the time to try again. I have fenced some goods through I'a, but I want a regular flow. If I don’t ally with the Fiske, then they will become my primary rivals.

The second group I have my eye on for an alliance is the Hazardirati. They run more sophisticated and upper-class crimes. They have their fingers in most of the casinos, especially the fancy ones. I didn’t waste my time showing Kelda these casinos. I was scoping them out, and Kelda’s observations were a great help. She knew I was using her for something, but I am sure she never figured out what. That girl is too upright to make a criminal out of her, but I can try.

I decided the Hazardirati would be first as my information on it was the most recent. After that, I would decide what to do with the Fiske. The options were an alliance, taking them over or wiping them out. The Hazardirati. was run by an elegant Orc called. Janez. He always wore formal clothing and mixed with the noble and super-rich crowd. He based himself in a fancy casino in Central Queens. I knew he had a controlling interest in several other casinos and a share in the Treasury simply called The Crown. The Crown had turned down the Elemental Traders' application for joining. They were more than a treasury. They were an elite club.

It was time to meet Janez and see whether an alliance was possible. Goods were arriving in the city to be sold. Stolen goods from her contacts in the north. It was too much for one fence. I needed regular traders to work with. I doubted the Hazardirati could supply that, but it was time to find out.

Janez usually worked from lunchtime till midnight. He is often out checking on his interests or entertaining his rich contacts. The last hour or so was usually spent in his office in the Gold King Casino. The main casino was on the ground floor and first basement level. The VIP lounges were on the first floor, and the managers and staff were on the second floor. Janez’s had a corner office on the second floor. This was a private office. If he were meeting with people, he would do it in one of the VIP lounges. Outside his office was two administrators, and the rest of the floor was for other staff.

I let myself into his office in the early evening and looked through his current projects. There wasn’t high security, so I didn’t expect much. He did have a couple of lucrative projects underway. It looked like he ran a tight and well-organised operation. This was his legal work. Where was his illegal work? There was a safe behind his desk, but it would take me too long to crack open. My Spatial Awareness could push through the Spiritual material of the safe, so I knew it was mostly papers and a small bag of coins. The spiritual material of the safe made it almost impossible to read the papers. I settled in to wait for him.

Janez was an Orc who ran high-end casinos and high-end crime and had done for decades without being caught or killed. He would be highly intelligent and have at least Keensight high-levelled. His personal security was quite lax. Two obvious and competent guards and one hidden Rogue. On the other hand, he didn’t usually go to unsecured places, so they may be enough. He is still alive, so they are enough, or am I missing something?

I sat in a dark corner outside of the direct line of sight of the door. He was earlier tonight. One of the Guards opened the door and checked the office before he came in. This was an orc. The other guard was a human. I had deepened the shadows to see how long it would take them to see me. Janez only got two steps into the office when he stopped and searched with his eyes. He stopped and looked straight at me. His guards had gone on alert the moment he stopped and immediately drew steel.

“Hello.” he said, “I imagine if you were here to kill or rob me, you would have attacked by now. How can I help you?” The rogue had crawled through a gap in the ceiling and was ready to drop through. The rogue was an orc. I wouldn’t have known she was there without my Spatial Awareness.

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“I am looking at the major players and where I might fit.”

“Yes, a couple of months ago, the Fiske were asking questions about a newbie wanting to muscle in. I was expecting a visit some time ago.” He moved to the desk, and I noticed he looked carefully before he sat down. I hadn’t poisoned his seat. One guard moved near him, and the other stayed by the door. They were alert but not overly excited.

“I was caught up in other business for a while.”

“There are certainly strange events happening with this new Countess Auditor and the Duke's assassination. It creates uncertainty. Not good for business.”

Did that mean he suspected me of being involved in that business? I suspect he was connecting the two new events together. It is something I would do. I got up and moved into the light. I was hooded, and shadows enhanced the darkness of the hood. I sat in a chair a couple of meters from the desk. The door guard was, therefore, behind and to one side. The rogue was behind and above. The guard beside the desk could strike by taking one step. They still had their shortswords out.

“I have found it very profitable,” I said. “It is all about adapting.”

“The Fiske said you were importing.”

“I am very adaptable. For instance, in this very casino, I gained the title deed to a very nice house in East Marin.”

That got his attention. “I was called in to investigate that. My security couldn’t figure out how you did it. You are certainly not the naive lieutenant who gained the deed, so you were the companion we haven’t been able to track.”

“The lieutenant was very useful. Even more, that she is the heir to the Duke of Hrothgar, so it limited reprisals.” I wasn’t above dropping noble names around to prove I operated in his circles. I couldn’t really drop the king’s name.

“Indeed, but I checked, and she still owns the house. I expected it to have changed hands by now.”

I shrugged, “The lieutenant continues to be of use.”

I could see his mind ticking over about how to track me using the lieutenant.

“What do you want?”

“That’s very direct,” I said in orchish.

“You are full of surprises,” he responded in the same language. Then he switched back to common, “What do you want?” he repeated.

It wasn’t until I met him that I realised why he ran such a smooth organisation. He wasn’t running a criminal organisation. He was leading a Clan. It wasn’t a traditional orc clan. I will contain all his key leaders of many races, which explains why he was so successful. His clan members are loyal and have been with him for decades. Crime Lords are usually assassinated by their ambitious underlings. His are loyal clan members. It is why he is safe with just three guards. He will use extreme violence to keep his clan safe, even over profit. This is very different to the usual Crime Lord, who is ultimately looking out for themselves.

I replied in orcish, “I want an alliance between clans.”

He just sat and looked at me for some time, obviously thinking this over. It is not uncommon for clans to go to war with each other. Blood feuds happen. On the other hand, alliances can become very close, often being sealed with intermarriage.

Eventually, he replied in orcish, “I need to know who you are.”

This was more than just an identity request. This would mean working together to develop trust. Alliances developed over time. They weren’t created overnight. I think I knew enough to take the first step, or I would never have requested an alliance.

I switched to common, “That’s complicated,” I said. I reached up and pulled down my hood, and released my shadows.

He recognised me immediately, “Countess Auditor!” he said, surprised.

“It is a recent appointment by a doddery old king who didn’t want to deal with his own problems.” I smiled, “I have found it to be very profitable.”

He laughed heartily, “A fool and his gold.” he said.

I finished the quote, “should always be parted.”

“I thought I ran some high-level scams,” he said, “but you, you scammed the king!”

“He is an old rogue,” I said, “literally.”

“So he knew what you were up to, and you still got away with it.”

“Leverage and need,” I said.

“And greed,” he added.

“Absolutely.”

“We can explore an alliance,” he said.

“We are a lot smaller than you. I don’t have people to spare right now, but I can take someone with me if they can move discreetly.” I pointed to the ceiling behind me, “She’s not bad.”

“Julija considers herself to be very good and may get upset at being described as ‘not bad’” he raised his voice and said in orcish, “Come join us, Julija.”

Julija went back to the other room and then came in through the office door. She had a slight frown as she approached. I stood to my feet. Janez also stood.

“My name is Skygge,” I said, “We both have secrets that need to be kept.”

“They will be.” Janez declared

“Same from us.” I turned to Julija, “My Krvne Sestre is staying in a certain house in East Marin. We need to be unseen travelling there.”

“I understood your Krvne Sestre died,” Julija said.

“Not yet,” I said, “although it was a touching memorial service.”

“You scammed the city?” Janez exclaimed.

“I needed the army off her back.”

“I will need to up my game,” Janez said. “Keeping up with your clan is going to be interesting.”

As I headed through the streets with Julija, I realised our fledgling alliance was enough to level my Racketeering Class.