Harry froze for a second before opening the door and hurrying out under a Disillusionment Charm.
If Domeric were there, he would surely say, "I told you so." Harry hadn't thought the door would be so sensitive to the passage of the objects it guarded.
The guards didn't react, as if they were statues.
Going up the stairs, he immediately pressed himself against the wall when he saw two guards walking in his direction.
When he saw them pass, he knew it was a coincidence, as they only glanced briefly downward before continuing straight ahead.
Moving quickly through the corridors, he reached the entrance of the Bank. Before he could relax, he saw a man approaching with dozens of soldiers.
Moving aside, he simply watched them block the entrance to the Bank while another group went inside—to inspect the vault, if he had to guess.
Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly noticed that the man leading the soldiers looked in his direction before shaking his head and entering the Bank as well.
Harry couldn't help stopping and looking suspiciously at the man's retreating back as he disappeared inside the Bank.
The man hadn't looked directly at him, only around as if searching for something, but that would mean he had vaguely detected the Disillusionment Charm Harry was using.
Frowning, he couldn't help wondering if the man was sensitive to magic.
His curiosity was really gnawing at him, but in the end he resisted. He represented not only himself, but also his House, and if they somehow discovered his identity, it would be a problem.
Taking one last look, he left without anyone noticing, heading toward his ship.
Greeting the crew, he casually said that he had gone for a walk before heading down to the ship's hold.
Finding an empty room, he unloaded all the gold before turning it into ingots.
With magic, he engraved the symbol of a direwolf on them. If anyone asked, they were the North's gold reserves.
The wooden floor creaked softly under the sudden weight.
Looking at the gleaming, perfectly shaped gold bars, he thought he had overdone it, so he added some imperfections. Nodding slightly, he left the room after securing the door with magic.
Chanting the spell in his mind, the mist swirled around his hand.
7.3
Harry nodded slightly. He had used quite a lot of the ambient magic, but even so, it was recovering quickly. Before he canceled the spell, the reading increased by 0.1.
Going up on deck, Harry sat at the bow and calmly watched the dock.
Everything seemed normal, but he knew it soon wouldn't be. Even if they thought it was a false alarm, the natural thing would be to inspect every vault. Once they discovered something was missing, they would definitely search the entire city.
But that would take time, which meant he could still go out for a while.
Harry remained thoughtful. He hadn't found the dragon eggs in the Bank, but they had originally been sold to the Sealord.
If they were still in Braavos, his palace was the next logical place to look.
The Sealord was the ruler chosen by the Keyholders. Although he was called the ruler of Braavos, Harry doubted he truly held the city's power, but there was no harm in investigating.
Saying that he would rest in his room and that no one should disturb him, Harry slipped away in the direction of the palace.
It took him a while to get there since it was somewhat far from the port where his ship had docked. The place looked imposing, and there was a steady flow of people entering and leaving.
With the guidance of one of the servants, he reached the palace vault. It wasn't as well protected as the Bank's, so getting inside was even easier.
There was gold, weapons, and works of craftsmanship, but no eggs.
Harry frowned, feeling that there was something wrong with his reasoning. Maybe the eggs weren't kept somewhere protected?
Confused, he left the vault before finding a servant and asking him about dragon eggs.
To his surprise, the servant answered without hesitation, saying there was one in the Sealord's study.
Harry almost felt like banging his head against the wall. He had never asked anyone about the eggs because he thought it was a sensitive subject and the servants shouldn't know about it.
Walking to the study, Harry made sure no one was there before unlocking the door and entering. It was then that his eyes were drawn to a large black egg that had been carefully placed on a small pedestal.
Clearly, the valuable egg had been reduced to a decoration.
Extending his hand, Harry held the egg and felt the weak but still latent life within.
Looking at its exterior, which seemed to have petrified, perhaps he understood a little better why the eggs weren't so heavily protected.
Frowning in concentration, Harry cast a spell he knew for diagnosing dragon eggs.
He wasn't sure if it would work. Because of its complexity, it was a spell normally performed with a wand, although after so many years of practicing magic without one, Harry felt that he had begun to overcome even those limitations.
Besides, the dragons of this world and those of his previous world were different, so the spell might not be equally effective.
The most obvious difference was the number of limbs. In this world, dragons only had four, while in his previous world, dragons had six limbs.
The spell sank into the egg, and Harry sensed its condition more clearly.
The eggshell had petrified to protect and preserve the latent life inside the egg.
This had both an advantage and a disadvantage. The good thing was that it extended the lifespan of the eggs; the bad thing was that the longer they remained petrified, the harder it was to make them hatch.
So usually, the embryo ended up dying anyway.
As Harry lost himself in analyzing the egg, several minutes passed before the sudden sound of the door opening alerted him.
When he turned around, he found himself face to face with a middle-aged man who at first looked at him in surprise. His expression quickly changed to anger when he realized there was an intruder.
Just as he was about to open his mouth to call the guards, Harry cast a spell directly at his face.
To his surprise, although the man became somewhat dazed, he seemed to resist. Then he noticed that his necklace had begun to glow with a crimson hue.
Increasing the power of the spell, he finally managed to bring him under its effect, and the necklace stopped glowing as well.
With interest, he levitated the dragon egg beside him while extending his hand and taking hold of the necklace.
An expression of disdain appeared on his face when he noticed that the enchantment was quite primitive. However, when he examined it more carefully, his expression changed to disgust.
There was blood magic in it. He could feel hatred and resentment deeply imbued in the object; he would bet that human lives had been sacrificed during its creation.
Even so, he couldn't determine exactly how it had been made.
Clenching it in his hand, he felt like destroying it, but not wanting to alert its possible creator and leave even more traces after his assault on the Bank, he resisted.
Looking at the middle-aged man, Harry assumed he was the Sealord.
Still under his spell, Harry began asking him questions.
''Who gave you this necklace?'' Harry asked, looking at him.
"It is given to every Sealord when he assumes the position. According to the records, it was purchased centuries ago in Asshai. It is unknown who created it. It serves to protect the mind from intrusion or control," the man said in a monotonous voice.
Harry frowned when he heard that. It made a lot of sense. According to what he had learned, Asshai was a place full of sorcerers.
The only positive thing was that the glow of the necklace wouldn't alert anyone.
Even so, it showed him that mages in this world could also interfere with people's minds.
''Tell me about this dragon egg,'' Harry said, looking at him.
''It was one of three eggs bought from a woman more than 200 years ago. For more than 100 years, attempts were made to hatch it, but they all ended in failure.''
''It petrified over time and became just one more of the dozens of petrified eggs scattered throughout Essos,'' the man said with a blank expression.
''Do you know where there are any others?'' Harry asked with interest.
"The other two were stolen after being used as decorations. As for other dragon eggs, I suspect that a man in Pentos has at least one. A few years ago, he even sent me a letter wanting to buy this egg as well as the hatching method."
''You know the hatching method? If so, why didn't you hatch it?'' Harry asked in surprise.
''We know the principles. Blood, fire, and magic,'' the man said in a dazed voice.
''So it isn't just a matter of feeding it magic?'' Harry murmured, somewhat confused. In his previous world, eggs hatched on their own because of the magic-rich environment.
It seemed that things weren't so different here, except that because there wasn't as much magic, the eggs needed some help.
''Why is he buying eggs? Do you think he wants to hatch a dragon?'' Harry asked casually.
''Our spies informed us that this person had received the last two Targaryen heirs at his mansion.''
Harry's eyes widened in surprise when he heard that. He had happened to hear about those two people a year earlier.
His expression turned thoughtful as he wondered what this person was planning.
''I see, and were you planning to sell it?'' Harry asked, looking at him.
''No. Although the possibility is small, we cannot risk a dragon emerging.''
Harry remained silent for a moment before nodding. It was time to leave.
''I see... when you discover the theft, make sure to investigate the matter thoroughly, but don't kill anyone innocent,'' Harry said before ending the spell.
With everything ready, Harry cast a Disillusionment Charm on himself before walking out the door.
In the study, the man regained his senses and looked around in confusion. Rubbing his forehead, he assumed he was simply too tired, until he suddenly noticed that the black egg was missing.
His expression immediately turned grim as he shouted for the guards.
On his way back to the ship, he remembered to check on Dacey and Val. Following the magical traces he had left on them, he found them in a luxurious inn, enjoying a hot bath in one of the rooms.
Each had a maid behind her massaging her shoulders.
For a moment, he considered joining them, but the dragon egg levitating beside him seemed more attractive at that moment.
Quickly checking on his friends as well, he found almost all of them in their rooms with a woman beside them.
Speechless, he left them alone and returned to the ship.
In his room, Harry held the egg in one hand with a thoughtful expression.
Although it was black, it also had several shades of gray, making it look like a half-painted stone.
Getting to work, he took out several materials and created a magic circle around the egg.
Activating the magical ritual, he noticed magic flowed toward the circle, making the runes glow in different shades, reflecting the condition of the egg.
His eyes wandered among all the runes. One especially caught his attention. It didn't seem to be part of the embryo itself, but something added to it, a structure of blood magic deeply rooted in the egg.
Harry studied it for several minutes until he partially understood its function.
Lineage.
Frowning, he carefully inserted a hand between the runes and began separating the traces tied to blood. After making sure not to affect the embryo, he let a drop of his own blood fall.
The rune glowed intensely before Harry sent it back into the egg.
Looking at other runes, he noticed traces of modification, which could mean that dragons weren't entirely natural creatures.
Exploring the runes in greater detail, Harry managed to recognize some relatively simple structures related to growth, reproduction, fire production, and certain physical characteristics.
However, the deeper he went, the more incomprehensible the structure became.
He couldn't even identify what sex the embryo was, or whether it even had one, considering the beliefs surrounding dragons.
Harry frowned before giving up on trying. It could take him months to fully understand a creature he had never studied.
If it works, don't touch it.
The runes returned to the egg before the magic circle disappeared.
Feeling how drained the ambient magic was, Harry could only wait until the next day before trying to make it hatch.
The only thing he could do was place the egg over burning embers and go to sleep.
Without Harry knowing it, that night was quite eventful. The few people in the city who were sensitive to magic had noticed the changes.
From their perspective, the magic in the city seemed to have progressively weakened throughout the day.
Some roamed the city trying to find the source of the disturbance. Unfortunately, their senses weren't precise enough and Braavos was immense, so finding the person responsible seemed difficult.
And to add chaos to the city, soldiers were also patrolling the streets, inspecting warehouses and carts that had passed near the Bank.
The commotion lasted almost until dawn, when the soldiers began expanding their search beyond the areas surrounding the Bank.
The city seemed to be boiling. Warehouses were searched and carts were stopped in the streets, while guards questioned anyone who had been near the Bank that night.
Some merchants, sensing danger, tried to leave the city in a hurry.
Only to be stopped and searched without much consideration.
At the harbor, even the ships that had already set sail weren't spared. Those that had yet to pass the Titan were intercepted, their cargo searched and their crews questioned before being allowed to continue.
The Iron Bank wasn't going to accept a loss of that magnitude, much less that someone had proven that its vaults could be breached.
Yet despite all of this, they had found nothing. No one had seen the thief enter or leave, the guards remembered nothing unusual, and there were no signs of forced entry.
They didn't even have a description of him.
----
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