The next day, Harry woke up with a yawn before going out to have breakfast. He ate with the crew and casually talked about the rumors circulating around the harbor.
And it really seemed like something had happened. The harbor was full of rumors and uncertainty.
The soldiers hadn't reached them yet, but it was only a matter of time.
"Has the ship been supplied yet?" Harry asked, looking at the captain.
"Not yet, but the deal has already been made. It's just a matter of loading the provisions onto the ship," the captain said.
"Hm, do it as soon as possible, we'll probably set sail tomorrow," Harry said, nodding.
"My lord, the situation is a little complicated, perhaps we should wait a few days for everything to calm down," the captain said cautiously.
"Just load the supplies, we'll see," Harry said simply.
The captain only nodded, still uncertain.
He had heard that the soldiers were thoroughly searching every ship that tried to leave, opening crates and inspecting their cargo without much care. He feared that such treatment might cause trouble with the crew.
After eating, Harry returned to his room and approached the egg with interest. When he took it out of the embers, he noticed something really interesting: the egg hadn't heated up at all. It was still completely cool.
As if it were absorbing all the heat around it.
Taking out the materials, he skillfully constructed a magic circle, feeling the magic becoming restless in the room.
Activating the circle, the magic swirled toward the egg, making it vibrate softly.
The process lasted barely a few minutes. After once again draining the magic for miles around, the magic circle dimmed. The embryo inside the egg felt more alive to Harry, but outwardly there weren't many changes.
Without growing impatient, Harry left it in the embers before going out onto the deck.
Extending his hand, the mist swirled.
1.1
He couldn't help grimacing. He really had drained everything; it would probably take hours to return to normal levels.
Temporarily putting the egg aside, he decided it was time to deal with the matter of his alibi and fulfill his second reason for coming to Braavos: buying ships.
But he couldn't simply go to the shipyard. He didn't dare leave so much gold and Valyrian weapons unprotected. Who knew if soldiers would come to search his ship?
Not to mention that he himself might have caught the attention of someone sensitive to magic.
So instead of going to the shipyard to buy the ships, he would have someone sent to him. Although it might seem a little arrogant, he didn't care. In fact, it might help make his group seem less suspicious.
Calling the captain, he told him to find the person in charge of the shipyard and tell him that House Stark of Westeros wanted to buy some ships.
Tidying up one of the rooms, he prepared it for the seller's arrival.
A couple of hours later, a man arrived and greeted him with an enthusiastic smile.
Harry wasn't rude either and talked with him for a while about the city and the ships.
The man took out several parchments, showing him the ships made at his shipyard.
He learned that they had a fairly advanced assembly line. The man even claimed they could build a warship a day.
Harry doubted his claim, but didn't contradict him and simply looked at the ship models.
Skipping the small and cheap ones, he went straight to looking at the largest and most expensive ones, which made the man's smile subtly widen.
Money was really easy to spend when it hadn't cost you anything to get it.
Looking at the price of a flagship warship, Harry almost felt the need to draw his sword and stab the man who was looking at him with a smile.
100,000 gold dragons.
That was more than his House had managed to put aside over all these years.
Perhaps noticing Harry's silence, the man in charge of the shipyard smiled before clearing his throat.
"We have several payment plans. We accept grain, furs, metal, land, or tax exemptions for trade. The terms range from 5 to 20 years, and the interest rates are negotiable. It depends on how many ships you order," the man said, smiling.
Even with his composure, Harry really felt like cursing. They were taking advantage of him. He would bet that the ship they were selling for a hundred thousand didn't even cost them twenty thousand.
Thinking that the money was stolen anyway, Harry reluctantly decided to go through with the purchase.
"I want a flagship warship, the figurehead must be a wolf's head, the sails must bear the emblem of my House, and add two medium cargo ships, I'll give you 80,000 gold dragons," Harry said, staring at the man.
"What!?" the man said, losing his composure and looking at Harry in disbelief. In all his years, he had never seen such shameless bargaining.
"I'll pay in full," Harry said before the man could make a sarcastic response.
The man remained silent, still somewhat incredulous. 80,000 gold dragons wasn't something a House of Westeros could easily come up with, much less the supposedly poor House Stark.
In fact, he had come with the intention of taking advantage of them, perhaps acquiring some forests or mountains for a few decades.
One shouldn't underestimate how much they could obtain if they devoted themselves to exploiting the land without restraint.
The room remained silent for several seconds as the man's expression changed several times.
"Deal," the man said through gritted teeth after a moment of hesitation.
Although it was much less than he had hoped to get, it was money he would receive immediately. Better that than receiving scraps over 10 or 20 years.
Harry had no problem paying immediately, asking the man to bring his people to collect the payment.
The surprise on his face was genuine when he saw the room full of gold, making him wonder if they had discovered a gold mine in the North.
Even so, it wasn't his problem. After confirming that the gold was genuine, the men quickly carried it away, clearly pleased.
With that out of the way, the contract was formally signed and the man promised that the ships would be delivered to White Harbor as soon as possible.
Harry told him that of course he trusted the reputation of Braavos, while already planning to have his men spread the word about the purchase.
Without too many details, of course, but at least it would give him a reason for being there.
"My lord, thank you for doing business with us. If you need more ships, you only need to let me know, my lord," the man said, extending his hand toward Harry enthusiastically.
"Hm, we'll see," Harry said rather reluctantly. They definitely weren't going to fleece him again.
Suddenly, there was a loud knock on the door.
"My lord, there are some soldiers who want to search the ship," the captain's voice said.
Harry immediately frowned before looking at the seller.
"Take me to them, how dare they bother the young Stark," the seller said with feigned indignation.
They couldn't inspect the ship right after they had closed a deal. It would make the business look bad. By the next day, it wouldn't be his problem.
Harry gave him a satisfied look and accompanied him to the exit.
The man spoke with the soldiers in a low voice for a few moments. After a brief exchange, they finally gave in to his insistence and continued toward the next ship.
"My lord, until next time," the man said before leaving.
Harry only nodded and watched him leave as the soldiers moved on to the ship docked beside them.
The sky was orange as the sun began to set, creating long shadows.
It was then that he saw several familiar faces. Chuckling, he watched them approach until they boarded the ship.
For two days they had explored the city, enjoyed its food and wine, and even spent time with women, so most of them were satisfied.
"Careful getting on the ship, your weak legs might give out," Harry said mockingly as he looked at his friends.
"I could stay there for a week and my legs would still be strong," Smalljon said, laughing as he slapped Harry on the chest and walked past him.
"I hope you had a good time," Harry said, chuckling as he shook his head.
"And you two, I hope you had a good time, princesses," Harry said, looking at Val and Dacey.
"It wasn't bad," Dacey said with a slight smile.
"Yeah, I would have liked to keep enjoying myself," Val said.
The whole group went inside. It was then that everyone's expressions became more serious.
"Did they find out it was you?" Domeric asked, looking at Harry.
Harry only looked at Domeric in surprise.
"Don't play dumb. Did you really rob the Bank? They're searching the entire city," Domeric asked.
"Yeah, I heard they're intercepting ships and questioning outsiders. We didn't dare stay any longer, we gathered together and came back immediately," Jon said, still somewhat nervous.
"Oh, well, yeah, I'm the culprit," Harry said with an innocent expression that made everyone want to hit him.
"The magic on the vault door caught me by surprise. When I was leaving, it sent out a signal," Harry said, shrugging.
"So you left the loot?" Theon asked, looking at him with disdain.
"Who do you think I am? I took the loot and no one even saw my shadow," Harry said with a proud smile.
"What are you so proud of? You're just a thief," Domeric said, unable to stand his smug look.
"So? How much did you steal?" Val asked with interest.
"Not much, only about a hundred thousand gold dragons," Harry said with a dismissive gesture.
Everyone froze, staring at him in astonishment.
"Where did you put them?" Daryn asked, grabbing Harry's clothes.
Everyone looked at him expectantly, waiting for his answer. Harry deliberately let a few seconds pass before answering them with a wide smile.
"I already spent them."
"What do you mean you spent them?" several asked at the same time.
"Don't even mention it. I almost wanted to strangle the ship seller. It's daylight robbery," Harry said, getting angry just remembering it.
"You're shameless. You paid them with the money you'd just stolen from them," Dacey said, bursting out laughing.
"So we're going home?" Jon asked, looking at his brother.
"Why don't we go to Lys?" Theon suddenly asked before Harry could answer.
"Do you have enough money to pay for a Lysene prostitute?" Daryn asked mockingly.
Several burst out laughing, since Lys was, in fact, famous for its women.
Lys had one of the highest concentrations of Valyrian blood, and many of its women had silver hair and purple eyes.
"It's too far just to go and sleep with a prostitute," Harry said, shaking his head without interest.
"We're going to Pentos and then home," Harry said, looking at everyone.
"Any reason?" Domeric asked.
"Curiosity," Harry said without answering any more questions.
"Your curiosity is usually dangerous," Domeric said, shaking his head.
Everyone began joking and teasing each other about what they had done during those days, commenting on notable differences between the North and Braavos.
Late at night, everyone returned to their rooms on the ship. They didn't plan to go out again, knowing they had to be ready to leave the next day.
Everyone knew there was a time for joking and a time to be serious.
"Wow, what a big egg," Val said immediately upon entering the room.
She crouched down beside Dacey as they both looked at the egg resting on the embers inside a metal container.
"Are you sure it's real?" Dacey asked, looking at the egg that still looked like a stone.
"Of course. Catch!" Harry said, making a gesture as if he were going to throw it to her.
Dacey flinched and quickly stepped back, looking at Harry angrily.
"It's not hot," Harry said, laughing before looking at Val, who extended a hand with some hesitation.
When her finger touched the egg, she immediately pulled it back before realizing that it was cool to the touch.
With more confidence, she picked it up, amazed that the egg seemed impossible to heat.
"So you can't eat dragon eggs," Val said distractedly.
"Pff, I bet you couldn't even break the shell," Dacey said, bursting out laughing when she heard her.
"Here, scaredy-cat," Val said mockingly as she tossed the egg to Dacey.
Dacey caught it in the air and felt its texture.
"Hey, don't throw it around, it's not a toy," Harry said, looking at her.
"You started it," Dacey said, rolling her eyes as she tossed the egg back to him.
"Weren't there three eggs?" Val asked, watching Harry place the egg back on the embers.
"The other two were stolen," Harry said, shrugging.
"Looks like someone beat you to it," Dacey said, laughing.
"Fortunately, I got another lead. A man in Pentos may have one or more eggs, so we're going to find out," Harry said, sitting on the bed.
"Isn't one enough for you?" Val asked, looking at him.
"No," Harry said with a smile.
"Of course one isn't enough for him," Dacey said, giving him a teasing look.
Val burst out laughing as they exchanged glances.
Harry only rolled his eyes as he undressed, getting ready to sleep.
----
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