Gris’s eyes rolled back as the liquid was poured down his throat. The rough treatment caused him to choke and cough, with quite a bit of the alcohol splashing out.
"Big sis... sis... Jonavili! I... holy crap! Stop... just stop..."
Dragons were magical creatures that could survive without breathing, but Gris felt that if Jonavili kept this up, he might actually become the first dragon in history to drown—and by his own sister’s hand, no less!
Hearing Gris’s plea, Jonavili finally stopped. After all, she wasn't actually trying to kill him.
Seeing her devilish behavior finally cease, Gris let out a massive sigh of relief.
"How does it feel?"
Gris stared blankly at the ceiling, offering no answer.
Jonavili’s expression shifted to one of impatience.
"Tsk, another failure? Where exactly is the problem?"
She carelessly set the half-finished jar of alcohol on the table and leaned over the long surface, staring at the various bottles, jars, and equipment. An inexplicable surge of anger rose within her.
The urge to smash everything in the room crossed her mind.
But suddenly, the sound of someone smacking their lips reached her ears. Jonavili frowned and turned her gaze toward the floor.
There, she saw Gris sticking out his tongue to lick the corners of his mouth. His brow furrowed in a strange expression before slowly relaxing, his lips smacking as if savoring an aftertaste.
Noticing this subtle change, Jonavili’s eyes widened slightly.
Could it be...
Just then, Gris’s voice reached her.
"Big sis, my taste buds... is something wrong with them?"
Hearing this, the hope that had just surged in Jonavili plummeted back to the abyss, her face turning icy.
"I don't know. Why don't we just cut them off?"
Gris ignored her tone and the content of her threat, continuing to himself.
"Why does this stuff... smell kind of good? It tastes pretty decent, too. At least it’s better than anything I’ve had to drink this past month."
His words made Jonavili’s eyes bulge. Her breathing became heavy and ragged, nearly impossible to suppress.
"Are you serious!"
Gris paused for a moment, then slowly shook his head.
"I'm not entirely sure. You were pouring it in so hard that most of it either splashed away or went straight down my throat, so..."
"How about you let me try another sip?"
Jonavili shifted her gaze to the half-jar of alcohol remaining on the table.
Gulp, gulp—
She took a bold swig herself. As the liquid slid across her tongue, her crystal-blue eyes snapped wide. She downed the rest in one go.
"Ah~ Yes! This is the taste!!"
"Ahahaha~ I succeeded! I actually succeeded!!"
"I’m a damn genius! A total damn genius!!"
"Who else could do this!!!"
At that moment, Jonavili looked like a madwoman. She gave off the distinct vibe of a mad scientist who had finally completed a grueling experiment and was losing her mind with joy.
In contrast, seeing Jonavili’s state, Gris burst into tears of happiness.
"Finally... the nightmare is finally over! Waaaah~"
...
Once Jonavili successfully brewed the alcohol, she passed the technique down to the serpentfolk and demi-humans.
She even ordered the Imperial Guard to crush the raw materials for the fruit wine, noting that the physical labor served as a good form of exercise while they worked.
Jonavili commanded her followers to brew these four types of alcohol in large quantities. According to her projections, once these purified spirits hit the market, they would be an absolute sensation.
The existing alcohol market would suffer a massive blow, and those who relied on selling subpar wine would likely be driven to madness.
By then, a steady stream of little beauties would come into her embrace, and the resources and economy needed to develop White Crystal City would be secured.
However, Jonavili was in no rush to sell them immediately. As the saying goes, 'a man's wealth is his own ruin.' She could easily imagine that once she released this alcohol, many people would follow the trail back to her door.
In this world, every action left a trace.
Although Jonavili was confident that the three dragons working together could take on someone at the Platinum rank—even across two major tiers—it still wasn't enough. Nowhere near enough.
"Sigh~ Strength, time..."
Jonavili couldn't help but sigh. Her only current way to quickly increase her power was to devour more mana cores and mana crystals, thereby rapidly expanding her mana reserves and increasing her mana recovery speed.
"Great master, are you... troubled?"
A soft, sweet voice came from beside her. Jonavili didn't even turn her head as she gave a faint reply.
"Mhm."
The little creature nearby tilted her head in confusion.
"Is there anything Liya can do to help?"
"Heh."
Jonavili let out a disdainful chuckle and reached out to rub the girl's small head.
"Wait until you're all grown up before you talk about helping. If you really want to do something, tell me where Gris is."
Liya, standing by the dining table, froze before lowering her head in embarrassment.
Seeing this, Jonavili said no more and got up from her bed.
"Master..."
'Master! Something is wrong! The White Crystal knights we sent to expand the territory have been hit by an unknown attack!'
An urgent report echoed in her mind, causing Jonavili to pause.
This report was sent by Xiao Shunzi through their bloodline connection.
'Do not report such trivial matters to me. Lead more White Crystal knights yourself and investigate thoroughly.'
'Yes, great master.'
...
Meanwhile, within the shadows of the green forest.
A few dragon-blooded kin were on high alert, guarding the perimeter while other dragon-blooded kin, who had been wounded in the previous ambush, retreated quickly under their cover.
An imperceptible trace of gravity appeared in a pair of emerald vertical pupils.
"Strange. Why are there dragon-blooded kin here?"
Another figure hiding nearby seemed indifferent.
"Vienna, do you think that idiot from back then didn't die?"
The green dragon called Vienna gave a slight nod.
"It's not impossible. After all, white dragons appearing in the Sleeping Forest are rare, and besides..."
Vienna extended his senses once more to confirm.
"The aura on them has a faint, familiar scent. It’s almost certainly him."
When mentioning that white dragon from back then, the two green dragons still felt a bit of regret.
After all, a white dragon's physical strength was quite high. Coupled with the fact that that white dragon seemed to have awakened a physical talent, he would have made an excellent meat shield. That had been their sole purpose for keeping him around.
They just hadn't expected the guy to be so stupid as to try and engage in melee combat with a rockhide boar. Since that magic beast's tier was significantly higher than theirs, they hadn't dared to step in and could only watch from the sidelines to see how things played out.
Rate on N.U.
