3 The Next Target

Vir watched the slum little girl. At first glance, he found the little girl's similarities with those of the East. Reddish hair and blue eyes.

He grinned because the little girl looked down more as if she didn't want to be recognized by others.

Yeah, he thought. After all, there are too many orphans in the four main countries in this world, and that's the result of scumbag men who like to have fun with prostitutes, or also rape the women they like, especially women who come from border areas.

You bastards, you deserve to die!

The little girl didn't care about Vir's gaze that was tracing her from head to toe, she was still engrossed in enjoying a slice of bacon, the remaining half of which was now in her hands.

Vir snorted, and leaned his back against the wall again. He grabbed a fairly large wooden cup and took another sip of the redbrew with a frown.

The little girl giggled at Vir who seemed to have difficulty sipping his drink.

Vir ignored her. He looked around, watching every customer in the rather large shop.

Pretty busy today, huh? he thought.

Amidst the chatter of the customers, Vir heard the conversation between two people on the right side a little further inside the tavern.

"I heard," said a man with clothes that looked better and more luxurious than some of the people in the tavern, "in the ruins of the Southwest Country, some unique mushrooms are growing there."

"Yeah," said his interlocutor. "That's true."

The man's interlocutor was quite recognizable to Vir from his clothes. His clothes reveal his identity. He is a rider.

Vir grinned again and took another swig of his redbrew.

While the little girl narrowed her eyes as if she was watching Vir.

"The question is," Vir chuckled silently, "what kind of dragon are you riding, mate?" he muttered half inaudibly.

The little girl's eyes narrowed even more. But she cleverly hid it when Vir glanced at her.

"Then," said the man who seemed quite wealthy. He handed a bag of money to his interlocutor. "Could you pick some of those mushrooms for me?"

The interlocutor snorted, he grabbed the money bag and tucked it into his clothes.

"I mean," said the man about the age of 25, again. "You will be delivering my father's things to the Landlord in the West, right? Yeah, you can do that as well, can't you?"

"We'll see," said the other person, "Young Master."

The Young Master laughed while nodding, he raised his hand, "Waiter!" he called. "Add more drinks for us!"

"Right away!" a voice was heard answering the Young Master's request.

Vir was still looking at the two of them with a hideous grin tugging at the corner of his lips and then downed the drink in his hand though he had to wince. Then he put the empty cup on the table with a long sigh as if feeling relieved by something.

After that, he just left the tavern, leaving the beggar's little girl there.

***

Vir was lying on his back on the grass, in an area that is the westernmost part of the South Land, close to a wide deserted beach. Across the ocean are the ruins of the Southwest Country. The two large areas are separated by a fairly wide strait, the strait itself is dotted with rocks that grow tall like dragon fangs.

On his right, there is a cart that he always uses to collect firewood, and also to transport various hunting equipment that he always hides. Because what Vir is hunting are the riders and their dragon mounts.

To his left, on a large boulder protruding from the ground, a harpoon-throwing device like a giant crossbow he had prepared, he just had to wait for the target to appear before executing them.

He lay down with his hand as a pillow for his head, a blade of grass tucked in the corner of his lips.

Vir looked at the moon, which was only half visible tonight, the wind blowing in the meadow didn't disturb his calm even though the air was quite cold.

"If the goods to be delivered are something very valuable," he muttered to himself, "then the damn rider will only be traveling in the morning. But if it's something urgent, say, some kind of medicine and so on, then he should be on his way by now."

After all, didn't that Young Master ask him to look for that unique mushroom in the ruins of the Southwest Country? he thought. That meant, whoever the Young Master was, he was from a family of shamans who did have a business selling all kinds of medicinal herbs.

And the Southern Lands were very famous for their shamans who were able to produce quality medicinal herbs. Often people from the four major regions praised their skills, even calling their herbs magical potions.

"Humm… is there a Landlord in the West Country who is sick?" Vir frowned. "Good grief! I should visit the West Country more often. Or maybe other important family members? Damn it! I should have listened to them a little longer back then!"

Vir heard the wind blowing like someone whistling. He got up and immediately grabbed his short and unique telescope. With the telescope, he watched the situation in the east.

There was no one that he could see, except for various nocturnal animals that came out grazing at several points in the grassland area, as well as other small predatory animals.

"Irritating!" he muttered, and he lay down again, looking at the moon which was already at its first third point.

Vir is quite familiar with the grassland area which is directly adjacent to a strait. It was rare for Southerners to live around there, let alone those with grown daughters.

Yeah, the bad thing that Vir was thinking earlier was the reason. Those damn riders would 'prey' on girls and other young women, and even if they were caught doing it all, the riders never got punished because they were protected by the emperor.

"You useless trash creatures!" Vir cursed. "I will hunt down and kill all of you!"

And then, he heard the distinctive squeaking sound of a Wyvern. Vir grinned and he immediately got up, then used his unique telescope again.

"Yep!" he muttered while looking to the east. "There he is!"

He threw the telescope into his cart just like that, then rushed to his giant crossbow, readying the weapon to take down the rider and his mount.

Vir aimed to the east, at the black silhouette that was flapping its wings.

"Come here, baby!" Vir chuckled. "Come here, come to your daddy!"

The Rider riding on a wyvern-type dragon was the same man Vir had noticed earlier this afternoon at the tavern. He was riding a wyvern with slightly different physical features than the wyvern Vir had previously killed.