Chapter 53: Chapter 53: The Mysterious Map
Lane used the Assassin heritage he had acquired to track down the thief who had stolen his space bag. As the thief paused to inspect the loot, Lane jumped from the second-floor roof and stunned the thief.
After reciting the slogan of a little middle school, Ryan finally fulfilled his two-life wish of pretending, feeling quite satisfied with the result. He then began to examine the thief.
First, he retrieved his space bag and filled the thief's mouth with psychedelic mushroom spore powder, ensuring that the thief would remain unconscious for at least half a day. Only then did Ryan take the time to investigate what had happened.
After confirming the thief's unconsciousness by checking his red eyes—clear signs of his vampire nature—Ryan was a bit taken aback.
What happened to the once-noble, elegant dark night nobleman? How had he ended up as a petty thief on the streets? And under the hood was an uncle's face with a scruffy beard—far from the charming image one might expect. He looked more suited to robbery than anything else.
However, after considering the physical strength of vampires, it made sense that such a thief could steal in an area where spellcasting was difficult. It was a racial advantage.
Ryan couldn't help but complain as he began to search the thief for loot.
After searching through the thief's clothes, Ryan found only 2 sikes and 6 nats in one of his pockets.
This didn't add up. Thieves of this caliber usually carried everything with them. There had to be more hidden away.
Ryan quickly made his way to an alley to ensure no one would stumble upon them. There, he began to strip the thief's clothes to see if there were any hidden pockets.
Finally, on the thief's underwear, he found a small cloth pouch sewn into the fabric, which had a Space Expansion Charm on it.
Though Ryan found it difficult to begin his search in such a location, the lure of wealth proved too strong. Resisting his disgust, Ryan cut open the panties with a knife and retrieved the pouch.
Afterward, he dressed the unconscious thief again to avoid the appearance of a gentleman behaving poorly. Then, he leapt onto the roof, found a spot where there were many people, and slipped out of the house to blend in with the crowd.
This acquisition was enough to make Ryan lose interest in the rest of his shopping.
He quickly made his way down the street and left the wizard shopping district behind.
After entering an unoccupied alley, Ryan went into Tim Hortans to count his spoils. The shop had an isolation charm that prevented any positioning magic, and since the expansion spell on the pouch wasn't permanent, Ryan worried that its contents would disappear over time.
Inside the shop, Ryan took out a piece of cloth and used the Floating Charm to suspend it in mid-air. Then, he turned the pouch over and emptied its contents onto the cloth.
There was a substantial amount of items inside. After sorting through them, Ryan found that the space pocket sewn into the underwear was incredibly disorganized.
Eventually, Ryan divided the items into three piles. The first consisted of money, primarily sikes and nats, with about 120 Galleons mixed in—quite a nice haul.
The second pile contained a dozen pieces of jewelry, some with badges likely belonging to pure-blood families. Ryan decided it was best to avoid any complications with these and leave them for another time in a different world.
The third pile contained a few magically reactive items, only three in total. The first was a knight's sword, engraved with sharp and rust-resistant runes. While it was a formidable weapon for an ordinary person, it had no magical properties, rendering it useless for wizards.
The second item was a book titled The Art of Fire, written in Spanish. Ryan flipped through a few pages, recognizing it as a black magic book detailing fiery fire spells, which was rare and useful. However, Ryan's current magical abilities were insufficient to learn it.
The third item was an old piece of parchment, unlike anything Ryan had seen before. The parchment depicted several strangely shaped mountains, with a red skull symbol between them.
The image was incredibly lifelike, almost like a photograph. Yet, Ryan couldn't identify the location. He missed the internet from his past life—if he had a smartphone, he could have easily found the location.
The contents of the parchment left Ryan incredibly curious, but without any way to pinpoint its origin, he decided to put off solving the mystery. After all, he had come to Iceland for a vacation, not treasure hunting.
With his loot secured, Ryan placed everything he had found into the Tim Hortans store and quickly left to return to the hotel. He had made an appointment with his father, Mr. Oden Smith, to meet at noon. Time was running short.
Fortunately, Iceland had little traffic, so Ryan made it back to the hotel right on time—just three minutes after twelve.
His parents were waiting for him in the lobby, and said nothing when they saw him return on schedule. After a quick lunch break, the Ryan family set off for Akureyri the following day to attend the wedding of Mr. Oden Smith's friend.
A 45-minute flight later, Ryan and his family arrived in the small city.
Akureyri, known as Iceland's "Northern Capital," was the second largest city in the country. Located at the end of the Eyjafjord, it sat at the northernmost point of Iceland, near the Arctic Circle. The city was surrounded by snow-capped mountains and faced a serene blue lake, offering breathtaking views.
It was July when Ryan and his family arrived, and due to the city's proximity to the Arctic Circle, the sun never fully set—an odd experience of nearly constant daylight.
Ryan's most striking impression of the city was its emptiness. The streets seemed deserted, which was understandable given the city's small population of just over 10,000. Despite its size, it felt as if it could accommodate over 100,000 people.
The wedding took place at the Akureyri Church, located on a small slope. From the church's door, visitors could gaze out over the city, the fjord, and the surrounding mountains. The scenery was magnificent.
The wedding itself was standard by Western conventions, with little to distinguish it from any other. Ryan found the location particularly beautiful, though the cold air made it less comfortable than he had hoped.
Thankfully, after the ceremony, the Ryan family had some free time. They rented a farmhouse in Reykjavik for a ten-day vacation.
Ryan noticed that European vacations were quite different from those in China. Europeans preferred to stay in one place and unwind rather than rushing around to see every tourist spot.
While his parents were content relaxing at the hot springs, Ryan, feeling restless, decided to use the Floo network to visit several attractions in Iceland. His father, Mr. Oden Smith, encouraged the idea, believing that boys should be allowed to make their own plans. However, Ryan suspected that his father simply wanted to enjoy some private time with his mother.
I've made the requested changes and improved the grammar. The word count now closely aligns with your target.
FOR MORE CHAPTERS
patreon.com/STEPHENHART427