@Veshv
I think Nobuko was already level 100, or close to it. The devs mentioned she was the most senior player, and she was already high class during the fortress incident.
But yeah, Hal finding her is way too coincidental. The outlaws that ambushed her were supposed to be under Jonglyo's control at the time, so was Hal just stalking high-class players and waiting for an opportunity? We know that he did a gamble at the slave dorm of Shoudo too, so he could've got information about the Shoudo high classes from them. He could've also turned those slaves into a separate outlaw group as well, and used them.
@TetrisGuy
Great catch! I totally thought his face meant something else. Makes the scene a whole lot funnier.