Palm Dragon

All of a dragon's senses are far more acute than a human's.

Maybe not just the senses, but also the intuition for finding food.

So when everyone was sitting at the long table with white cotton napkins on their laps, Adrian got under the table.

He was not at all interested in aperitifs, which were just aperitifs.

Mr. Noble failed to fish under the table twice without trying not to spoil his image, so he could only turn his attention from the tail that was wagging like a puppy to the milk porridge on the table.

Adrian thought it was an insult to Fang to eat something made of cereal and milk—he wasn't a baby.

"Barracuda and lamprey are good," Adrian thought as he patted the oak wine barrel facing under the table with his paw, "but the wine at the Full Moon Festival is the most noteworthy thing."

However, the wine barrels in the holy imperial capital are very strong, and Xiaolong couldn't come to any conclusion that the wine in the barrel was more delicious after taking pictures for a long time.

Suddenly, the hanging tablecloth was rubbed up by someone, and Xiaolong, who was squatting on the ground, was at the right height to see the wine barrel beside the big white gold-rimmed tent behind the table—a bigger wine barrel.

Big = good.

Adrian's eyes lit up when he applied his years of experience in fruit picking to wine barrel identification.

Avoiding the legs of the elf who was still shaking while eating, a group of small black figures rushed out from under the table, and rushed to the edge of the tent in a flash.

Unlike oak wine barrels, these large wine barrels do not have corks, but after a few laps, Xiaolong found that there were still loopholes that could be exploited.

There is a circle of crystal clear resin on the edge of one end of the olive-shaped barrel.

This sealing technique usually comes from the elves in the forest. When the bark of the giant gum vine tree is softened by the sun, some sap will seep from the gaps in the bark.

The elves will raise some green long-necked birds with pointed and long beaks. They can fly to the gum vine trees that are too slippery because of the sap and cannot climb to suck the sap, and then digest it in the sac on the neck and spit it out. Very viscous resin.

Do elves make wine too?

Adrian thought for a while, but couldn't find any memories about elf wine.

"Forget it." Xiaolong felt that maybe the news about Emerald Valley was too closed.

This sealing resin can be sold for a handsome price even in the bazaar of Pagrama. It is completely waterproof, leakproof and odorless, making it the most ideal adhesive.

The most important thing is that it is solid.

If used to temporarily repair a broken shield, it can even block a giant's axe.

But that is for cold weapons.

Our Adrian is a dragon.Although there was a little accident, there is still enough power to do what you want to do.

Like opening a wine barrel.

Adrian walked around behind the big wine barrel and opened his mouth wide.

A majestic and huge pillar of fire rushed straight out—that was impossible.

A small red flame spewed from the dragon's throat, happily licking the ring of resin around the rim of the barrel.

It's not good if the temperature is too high to affect the wine inside.

In this regard, Adrian is very cautious.

If it is an ordinary small flame, it may not be able to melt the circle of resin after burning for a month.

But if it's dragon fire that's hotter than the lava in the center of the earth, then a little bit is really enough.

After roasting for less than a section of sausage, the resin sizzled.

The sticky iron rings began to come loose.

Adrian immediately put away the flame and cheered in his heart, and used his claws to remove the lid of the wine barrel a little.

A strong aroma of wine rushed up immediately.

Xiaolong stuck his head into the tilted wine barrel, and carefully sniffed the clear wine even in the dark with the tip of his nose.

Unlike the bold alpine spirits, Adrian inhaled deeply for an elegant but aggressive scent.

He thought of the thick dead leaves and cicadas in the forest under the sun, and he seemed to be able to smell the dry wood scent mixed with the honeycomb sweet smell...

Then, beside the big white tent that no one noticed, a small black shadow began to rub against a large wine barrel bit by bit.

Although the size has become smaller, it has not affected Adrian's drinking capacity at all.

Among the occasional explosions of fireworks, singing and crackling of campfires, no one heard Adrian's unceremonious grunt.

The "water level" of the wine in the big wine barrel gradually dropped, and Xiaolong's hind legs began to stand on tiptoe, and then turned into a kick...

Then got pulled.

Adrian turned back and found that his cloak was hooked.

"Hate it." With an indistinct murmur, Xiaolong began to tug hard.

But I don't know what it is but something tricky, Adrian leaned his whole body into the wine barrel and didn't break free.

Finally, the thick tail flicked vigorously.

puff.

A small black cloak was left alone on the grass.

Adrian pushed too hard, and the whole dragon fell into the wine barrel.

It was not dark in the barrel, and Adrian stretched out his paws to reach the edge.

But now he is really too small, and he has been fed too much by Ice recently, so he couldn't jump up for a while, and instead hit the lid of the wine barrel.

Click.

The last gap to see the sky illuminated by the fireworks disappeared.

Dragons can see in the dark, if not nothing.

Adrian stared blankly at the walls of the dark wine barrel.

"Oops—?" The confused interrogative sentence echoed in the wine barrel, and then—was drowned in the noisy night.

"Ahhh - this raspberry tart is amazing~Ed...?" The half-fed elf looked around.

Mr. Noble put down his wine glass and pointed to the table.

Ernie lifted the drooping tablecloth to pull a black tail protruding from a large wicker basket containing bread.

"what?"

Iss lowered his head and saw Anila pulling out a long rye bread that he always thought was a dragon's tail.

Layton, who was also looking down, quietly retracted his gaze, and opened a milk cupcake.

The little bat in the cake belched loudly in the silence.

Adrian sat in the dark—or rather, sitting in the wine, blankly remembering what happened.

Open the barrel - drink - fall - can't get out - the barrel suddenly moved.

Most of the wine was still swaying in the barrel, and Xiaolong was floating in the wine trying to drill a hole in the wall of the barrel to see what was going on outside, shaking so hard.

Then failed.

When Adrian was drowsy from the aroma of the wine, the wine barrel suddenly gave a heavy meal.

Then Xiaolong finally heard the voice.

"Bastard! Be careful!"

"The pad slipped away..."

"The ones over there are added to the banquet, and these two buckets are brought in..."

Lots of people talking.

Xiaolong suddenly became nervous and didn't dare to make any noise, and was quietly carried around.

It wasn't until the surroundings were completely quiet that Adrian began to carefully push the lid of the wine barrel with his head.

Still motionless.

Then came the sound of footsteps again.

"Is this the wine that the king wants?" A voice sounded from the side of the wine barrel.

Adrian felt his scales froze.

He knew this voice, and he could even say he had a deep memory of it.

It was this voice, guessing in a nonchalant tone that he was a half-dragon—the proud great Charmander Ferez.

"What are you thinking?" Another voice sounded familiar.

"Let's take a bucket home and make it up with the gooseberry wine in the kitchen..."

"Stop kidding," said the voice lazily. "This is specially ordered by the king for that lord. I heard that the big elf's secret wine-making recipe is flocking to the whole Ori continent, and he is usually not willing to use his own wine to trade... I don't know what method the king used. Go up Wang was already very annoyed that the bed was not photographed last time, but this time you stole the wine and was discovered by Wang, even if it was Auntie Ambika's order, I dare not intercede for you again."

Ferris was silent for a moment.

"Is this wine for him?"

"It's better to think of a way to solve more pressing problems than the idea of ​​drinking. To be honest, your hat doesn't look very good..."

"Get out!" A heavy impact made the wine in the barrel shake slightly.

"What's the use of losing your temper with me..." The voice gradually faded away.

Adrian squatted for a while, and when he tried again, he found that the lid of the barrel seemed to be loose.

It seems that Ferris' irascibility helped Xiaolong a lot.

With great difficulty, Adrian pushed off the lid of the wine barrel, and climbed out of the big wine barrel, smelling of alcohol and full of wine.

No matter how dull he was, Adrian knew that what he was drinking probably wasn't the free wine at the festival.

Even Ferris didn't dare to make up his mind about the wine, and I'm afraid he couldn't even get permission.

The guilty little dragon gently pushed the lid back on, and melted the resin again to stick it together—trying to make it look as if it hadn't been opened.

Then slip away.

But... where to slip to?

Adrian looked at the unfamiliar gorgeous garden and was at a loss.

It doesn't look like Chuo Street where a festival is being held here.

Manicured lawns, fragrant flower beds and trees lined with wine barrels.

The white stone pillar street lamps gave off a soft light, and the noise of the aroma of food faintly wafted in the air.

This made Adrian, who was lost, feel a little uneasy.

Being a dragon by myself has nothing to do with those warm excitements.

Without a bright bonfire, Adrian felt a little chilly at night.

So Xiaolong felt that he had found a way out.

"Iss must be very angry." Adrian said to himself. "Maybe they've gone back, maybe Leighton has warmed up the cocoa for bedtime."

The words that seemed to cheer him up made him even more frustrated.Sniffing, Xiaolong decisively walked to the other side of the garden away from the noise and lights.

Trespassing, of course avoiding crowds as much as possible.

Adrian thought so.

But he didn't consider whether this logic would allow him to find an exit.

So when the garden path became narrower and the street lights became less and less, Adrian stopped hesitantly.

Already he found himself passing the round stone fountain for the third time.

The flower beds here are not high - for a normal sized person.

But it is twice as tall as Little Plump Dragon Adrian.

Adrian struggled a bit, and had to admit that he was dazed by the tall flower beds.

There was no other way—the little dragon spread his wings hesitantly.

Because he was full of alcohol, it was a bit difficult to fly, so Adrian flew low to a little higher than the flower garden, intending to see if this place was a maze.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he raised his head, he was severely startled by a pair of eyes full of interest.