Eldarin only spent a moment of consideration before he turned to the right. A rich district would have more guards, and anyone he found would be more likely to turn him in. The slums wouldn't necessarily give him any more help but they probably wouldn't hurt either, the poor tended to not look favorably upon the upholders of law and order that made them that way. Plus the money tended to go towards the middle so he'd probably have to run through the slums to escape the town anyway.