“… amazing, the way you guys manage to keep the shifters under control like that,” Annia was saying. “Haven’t any of them lashed out and killed someone?”
“Oh, that happened once or twice in the early stages,” Nila said casually, as if she were talking about training a puppy who still hadn’t learned not to pee in the house. “But we’ve been doing this for a couple months now, and we’ve got those shifters under control.”
“How do you manage to get them here in the first place?” Annia asked. I was impressed at the admiration in her voice – if I didn’t know better I would have thought she was actually praising Nila. “I can’t imagine they’re happy to be here or that they came voluntarily.”
“They’re not happy to be here,” Brin said with a smirk. “But they only have themselves to blame. They should have been more careful about who they decided to default on their obligations to.”
“Indentured servitude?” Lakin hissed, drawing the same conclusion I did from Brin’s insinuation. “That’s not only barbaric, but illegal!”
I agreed, but something more important was rolling through my mind. “Lakin, Brin said that the shifters here all defaulted on obligations. Do you think those obligations could be financial?”
Lakin narrowed his eyes. “I suppose. What are you suggesting?”
“There’s a certain bank that’s been offering interest-free loans to shifters,” I said dryly.
Lakin’s eyes widened. “You mean Sandin Federal? Do you really think such a reputable bank would be involved in a dirty scheme like this?”
I shrugged. “Just because they’re interest-free doesn’t mean they’re payment-free. It’s possible that the shifters they took just couldn’t keep up with the payments.”
Except for Mika, a voice in my head reminded me. She was taken because of you.
“Alright,” Annia called, and I turned my head to see her walking back toward us. “Let’s head home.”
We all climbed into the purple and white steamcar in silence, the tension thick in the air as I waited for someone to stop us. But no one even spared us a second glance. Still, I held my breath until we were out onto the road, and didn’t relax until we were far from Turain’s industrial district.
“So,” Annia finally said. “You got everything Nila and Brin told me?”
“Yeah. Debt slavery.” I pressed my lips together. “I’d be interested to know who the investor is behind this, if we’re right about what Brin is saying.”
“And also why they’re giving out loans to these shifters,” Lakin interjected. I could see him scowling through the rearview mirror. “I interviewed nearly every one of those families, and none of them looked like they were in the position to take on a loan. Why would an investor extend credit to someone who almost certainly can’t pay it off?”
“It almost sounds as if the investor, whoever they are, is trying to get these shifters indebted to him on purpose.”
“But why?” I demanded. “So that he can force them into an illegal fighting ring? I don’t know about you, but that sounds like an expensive way to get labor. He’d probably save more money if he just kidnapped them straight off.”
“I don’t know if it’s about saving money,” Annia said slowly. “I think it’s about control.”
“What do you mean?”
“I read something in a history textbook, back during my brief stint as a college student, that sounds kind of similar to this.” Annia drummed her fingers on the steering wheel. “Two centuries ago, Garai was giving out loans to some of its smaller neighboring countries in the East, countries that were struggling with their own economies already. They ate up the gold greedily, of course, but they didn’t fix their broken economic system and ended up being unable to pay back the debt. Garai used that as leverage to extort supplies, mages, and various favors from these countries, and eventually they were assimilated into their own country.”
“Well that explains why Garai is so huge,” I muttered. It was the largest country on the Eastern continent.
“I wonder if all the shifters who owe this investor money are being forced to fight in the Royale like this, or if this mysterious investor is extorting them in other ways.” Lakin’s eyes sharpened. “I’m going to have to interview friends and families again first thing in the morning and find out if they borrowed any money from Sandin Federal, and if so, whether they’ve been harassed by their creditor recently. Out of those twenty names on the list something ought to pop eventually.”
“You want some help dividing that list up?” Annia asked. “Would probably be faster if you split up the workload.”
Lakin hesitated. “I can always divide it up amongst my deputies.”
“Not this time.” I twisted around in my seat to face Lakin. “We could have gone to the Royale without you, Lakin, but I brought you in. The least you could do is let us help with the interviews in return.”