CHAPTER 438: CHAPTER 262: WINTER FEAST (PART 3)

Satilaesa then stretched out her neck to grab the roast leg of horse that was about to hit the ground, eating with her neck tilted upward in Pride.

This was her own hard-won prize, not something thrown to her by humans.

Such a grand display naturally drew applause and cheers from the crowd of onlookers. As a result, the rims of Satilaesa’s ears reddened.

Behind her, the two younger Hatchlings were not as particular: the third-born red Hatchling Octavia and the second-born green Hatchling Svetlana accepted everything that came their way. It didn’t take long before their stomachs were round with fullness.

But driven by Wrath and Greed, their tails flickering, the food quickly churned in their bellies—warm as forges and corrosive as dissolution pools—rapidly turning into ’alchemical material’ and being excreted.

Then, as soon as it hit the ground, it was swiftly scavenged by a rush of pitchfork-clutching onlookers. Even the coal-like remains were carefully rolled into little balls by children wearing deerskin gloves, who tucked them away as if they had found treasures.

They only knew this stuff was rather valuable and had many benefits. Even a small ball like this, made into a necklace and worn outside the city in the woods, would keep beasts at bay for at least half a month. Just this ’benefit’ alone could support a large number of people.

The sight made David both laugh and cry.

Okay, he found the source of the problem. If his own daughter led the way in littering, could he really expect the other Dragons to follow a law that was difficult even for Dragons to obey? As the saying goes, if the upper beam isn’t straight, the lower ones will be crooked. And as another saying goes, the law does not punish the masses. With his daughter leading the way in breaking and resisting the law, David, as a father, also felt helpless. He couldn’t just address the issue by giving her a spanking, could he? They already had so little time together. If he started laying into her as soon as they met, his image as a father would probably be worse than those wild Dragon sires from the Chromatic Dragons who didn’t care at all.

With a sigh in his heart, David had no choice but to pretend he hadn’t seen it. He followed Lizrite, who was already impatiently diving towards the city’s central district, causing the crowd to scatter in panic, and David flew down after her.

"Mommy... you’re back..." The innate physiological need of the Hatchlings for their Dragon Mother made Octavia immediately rush over. However, she didn’t forget to eat as she turned her head, snatching up a child who was hanging onto a piece of crispy rice candy and soaring into the sky.

However, Lizrite, now devoid of all aggression, hadn’t yet had time to experience this affection—which felt somewhat unfamiliar to her—when Octavia spotted David behind her.

"Daddy!!!" she immediately bypassed Lizrite, whose smile had turned stiff, and pounced straight onto David, quickly climbing onto his neck and becoming an exuberant ’Dragon Knight’.

Clearly, she had a good impression of this Dragon Dad who always found ways to give her gifts and cheer her up.

David immediately glanced at Nifadora, who wore a smile beside him. He understood that this Green Dragon mother, who had single-handedly managed three children and a ’not-yet-grown-up’ sister, had clearly been saying good things about him to the children in his absence.

As soon as David landed, he felt a tickle in his ear flap and turned his gaze to see Svetlana, his most timid daughter, climbing up along his ear, giving him a timorous look as if afraid of upsetting him.

Only Satilaesa, the eldest daughter, cared little for such formalities. Flapping her wings and rising into the air, she plopped down right on top of David’s head, showing no such courtesy to her Dragon Dad. She was the oldest and naturally seized the best spot to watch the festivities.

"Daddy, Mommy said you would set off fireworks. What are fireworks? Can you... show me, please?" Seeing the high ground occupied by her older sister, the little green Hatchling clung to David’s ear, asking in a soft voice.

"That’s a piece of cake! Watch this!"

His daughter rarely made requests, so David’s heart burst with joy. He immediately threw back his head, and a raging flame shot into the sky. Then, due to the repulsive force of Mana Energy, it suddenly burst apart, illuminating the dusky sky with magnificent brilliance and drawing gasps of amazement from the crowd.

"Yikes!" Satilaesa, who had been perched atop David’s head, was flung into the air by the sudden head toss, thrashing wildly in mid-air.

CLICK.

And this moment was captured and preserved by a Bard in the crowd using Crystal Memory Magic.

He had a hunch that this memory crystal should be well preserved. One day, it might fetch a sky-high price.

"Another one! Another one, Daddy, please!"

At his three daughters’ earnest request, David, all fired up, put on a full display of pyrotechnics.

And so, the Winter Feast at Port of Wallens, thanks to the fireworks show personally set off by David, became an unforgettable and eternally preserved moment in the memories of everyone in Wallens, including the Dragons.

In the years that followed, the practice of setting off fireworks, driven by merchants’ interests, began to spread across the entire Continent.