Vir had packed his belongings, as well as Aira's, into the cart Daisy had given him. He intended to continue his wanderings, to continue his nomadic life, and the nine-year-old girl was determined to follow him.
"I thought you'd spend the night here," Daisy said. "Well, for a few more days. But you weren't kidding."
Vir grinned. "Come on, Princess! You know exactly what I'm like, don't you?"
"Maybe."
"Damn it!" Vir chuckled. "Except, you already think I'm worthy of you. I'm sure tonight is going to be wonderful and fun."
"Oh, God..." Daisy smiled with her arms folded across her chest. "I'm at a loss for words to respond to your ridiculous lewd flirtations, you filthy bachelor!"
"You're shameless!" said Aira with a grumpy face to Vir.
"What's wrong with you?" replied Vir indifferently. "Or..." He straightened his back and looked at the little girl. "You want to stay here with Daisy, hmm? You know, that would be better for me."
"That's not going to happen!" Aira snapped and then climbed onto the cart and sat there casually.
"Hey, hey!" said Vir. "Don't add to my burden, damn it!"
Daisy couldn't help but laugh at Vir and Aira's behavior. Well, they did look hostile to each other but actually, they loved each other.
"Damn little brat!" Vir grumbled. "You're just going to get in my way, you stupid fool!"
"Come on, Vir," Daisy said, "You should show her your love and affection more often."
"Me?" Vir even looked disgusted at that. "Love her?" he said, pointing at Aira. "The world must be ending!"
"Silly!" Daisy couldn't contain her laughter.
"The world would end if there were ten more people like you," Aira retorted.
"Oh, shut up!" Vir grumbled.
Then he reached for one last square box-shaped item.
Vir frowned. "What's this?" he asked Daisy.
"Some food for you two on the road," the young widow replied with a smile.
"Oh, that's very kind of you." Vir smiled. "Can I kiss those beautiful lips of yours?"
"Oh my!" Daisy tapped her forehead.
And Aira used a twig to hit Vir on the shoulder.
Vir groaned and looked at the little girl with a furrowed brow. "You want to kill me, huh? You little brat!"
"I'm going to cut out that insolent tongue of yours!" retorted Aira like a big boss.
Daisy laughed again at the behavior of the two people before her.
"Hey," she said then. "If you're going to the North, you should leave now."
"Yeah..." Vir placed the square box into the cart, next to Aira. "I also don't want to spend the night out in the open before finding an inn."
But Aira knew that for sure. Vir had deliberately said this so Daisy wouldn't worry about them too much. For all Aira knew, Vir preferred to sleep out in the open.
"When are you going to stop by here again?" asked Daisy. But a moment later, she contradicted herself. "Oh, no. You don't need to tell me. What can be expected from a man like you?"
Vir laughed softly. "I don't know how long I'll live like this. But for now, I'd rather wander. Moving from place to place. I don't know, maybe if you accept me as your husband, then I'll stop this nomadic life."
"You're a good man, Vir," Daisy said. "But just to be friends. To take you as my husband... God, I'd go crazy!"
"Damn it!" Vir chuckled and grabbed the cart strap and draped it over his shoulder. "All right, Daisy. I'm leaving now."
Daisy nodded. "Take care."
"Daisy," Aira said. "Thank you, your food was delicious."
The young widow giggled with a wave of her hand. "Hey, please take care of him, okay? Especially, from the girls!"
"I'll kill him if he does anything weird!" said Aira.
"You're crazy!" said Vir as he pulled his cart with Aira on it.
"See you later, Daisy!" Aira waved her hand as well.
Daisy smiled. Yeah, she thought. Who knows when that man will come to see her again? After all, he had chosen that kind of life, there was nothing she could do about it.
The afternoon sky this time was beautiful and not scorching. The hordes of birds up there seemed to be migrating from one region to another.
***
Vir had been pulling the cart for quite some time with Aira stepping lightly on his left side. Then they arrived at a large area of meadow. The eastern sky was already darkening slightly with a golden-orange hue.
"At the end of this area," Vir said to the nine-year-old girl beside him. "There's a small, rocky lake. We'll just rest there for the night."
There was no response from Aira. The little girl seemed to be living in a world of her own. She strode along cheerfully, occasionally, a strange humming could be heard from her not-so-mobile lips.
Vir snorted softly and smiled at her.
The small lake looked more like a pool of rainwater among rocks of various sizes, and a large, shady tree growing in the center. It was like an oasis for the creatures that inhabited the meadow.
Aira was still sitting on the cart as she watched Vir build a campfire.
Yeah, he's a peculiar guy, she thought. Preferring to sleep outdoors rather than in a room with a soft bed.
But as with herself, Aira could understand why Vir preferred it this way. Well, to keep his identity as the last Vulcher a secret.
"Vir!" Suddenly Aira sensed something.
The man turned away with a frown. As if asking a question: What's wrong?
"Grass Tiger!"
Vir immediately drew his black dagger. He looked in various directions to confirm the little girl's words.
A Tymen appeared from behind the thick grass. The beast, twice the size of a full-grown dog, growled as it looked at the two people nearby.
The man was getting ready with a dagger in his hand. But then, he saw two tiny creatures appear behind the Grass Tiger.
Vir glanced at Aira, he found that the little girl's blue eyes seemed to glow.
He couldn't decide what to do, but his instincts told him to stay calm in his position.
Well, maybe the little girl was using her whispering skills to keep the beast from attacking them, he thought.
The beast with the cucumber-like stripes on its body had a tail that was longer than its body. And now, still growling, it was taking its two cubs to drink at the edge of the lake.
Right, Vir thought. If I kill that thing, then its little ones will starve to death.
Just for a moment and then the female Grass Tiger led her two cubs away from the lake.
Only then could Vir breathe a sigh of relief and proceed to build a fire.
"Damn it," he muttered, "gave me a scare!"
"What did you expect?" said Aira with the glow in her unique eyes slowly fading. "This is the risk of spending the night outdoors."
"Who are you, huh?" retorted Vir as he pulled something out of a leather pouch at his waist. "A teacher?"
Aira only grinned slightly. Her attention was more focused on the fistful of meat in Vir's hand now.
"The heart of a dragon?"
"A Bald Wyvern," Vir replied. "And I'm not going to share it with you."
"Only an insane person would eat that poisonous meat."
"Whatever!" retorted Vir. "You just don't know how delicious a dragon's heart is."
Vir cut the heart into four pieces, then pierced each one with a twig, and then roasted it by the campfire.
He also took out two kinds of food from the box Daisy had given him this afternoon. A large loaf of dry bread and two slices of dry meat.
Vir and Aira sat by the campfire eating their dinner. The bread and two slices of dried meat were for Aira, while Vir had enough of the wyvern heart.
"Those people came to see me again this afternoon," Vir said.
Aira glanced at the man whose mouth was full of food.
"I mean..." Vir swallowed his food. "Their leader, that Raemon. He came riding his Diabolis Securis."
"What does he want from you?"