After washing my clothes for about 10 minutes with water magic, it didn't get much cleaner. They're still almost completely covered in blood.
I rarely get my clothes dirty, so I'm not good at cleaning them myself. I've also never tried cleaning them myself, since Tails would clean them for me.
I guess it can't be helped... I can get myself somewhat clean, but wearing these blood stained clothes doesn't make it much better. I still smell terrible!
Since the condition of my clothes aren't improving by much, let's just continue with the hunting. But, this smell... I don't think I can ambush anything in this state. This is troubling.
I mean, I've already gotten used to the smell of blood since long ago, but it really stinks! And it's a really strong smell too!
"Haah..."
With one last sigh, I used my search magic again, trying to feel for any living things nearby. I'll think about the difficult stuff later! Probably.
Ah! That direction! There's some Horned Rabbits towards east, about 600 metres away! With my targets found, I start running towards them as fast as possible, while avoiding all the trees and obstacles in my way.
...
After only a minute, I've arrived at the location of the Horned Rabbits, which are hidden in tall grass. There's two of them. Well, I'm actually about 15 metres away from them, because I smell like... this.
Even though I'm quite far away from them, they seem to have already noticed me, from the scent of blood. I tried to stay far away as a precaution, but I guess the smell is stronger than I thought.
That said, they've already noticed me, but they aren't attacking me. They're just trying to stay hidden in the tall grass. Why are they behaving like this? This is unusual...
Wait, I'm getting a feeling that something like this has happened before...
Yeah! I remember now! Around four years ago, there was a group of, I think, six Horned Rabbits who stayed hidden, even though they noticed me. These two Horned Rabbits are behaving like that too.
I wonder... Why are they not attacking me when-
"-Whoah!"
That was close! They suddenly jumped at me, aiming to hit my legs while I was in the middle of my thoughts. Wait... I feel like all of this has happened before too!
But this time, it's just two Horned Rabbits, and I'm much stronger than before! You guys are not going to be a threat to me this time!
Stones!
While thinking as such, I used my usual magic that I made to kill Horned Rabbits. My magic splits into the size of pebbles and hardens, and I shot at the two Horned Rabbits. There are two projectiles this time, and both of them hit their targets successfully.
Haha! This is much easier than last time, since I've learned how to deal with Horned Rabbits. Even though there's only two Horned Rabbits this time, it doesn't really matter.
Eh? These two Horned Rabbits are still alive? even though there's blood flowing out of a hole in their bodies, they're still able to move their legs. They should have already died, though. Did I mess up...?
Ah, this is actually a good time to test something! Just a few days ago, I finally learned how to read the memories of other living things! Since these Horned Rabbits are still alive, it should still work.
I'm told that it's rude to read the memories of others, so I never got a chance to try it out. But it should be fine now, right?
With the intent to read its memories, I stared into one of the Horned Rabbits eyes, and... Whoah! It works! Hundreds of images flashed through my mind as it processed all of the information.
...
...Eh? What's this? ...This is... Newborn babies? Are they Horned Rabbits? What am I looking at...?
Are these two Horned Rabbits the parents? I can see about... Nine newborn Horned Rabbits. Wait a minute, did I just...?
...I don't believe it.
I don't want to believe it.
I don't want to think about it!
I just... killed the parents of nine newborn babies? How could I...
...
Because of me, nine newborn babies just lost their parents. They may be Horned Rabbits, but that doesn't matter!
"I'm..."
How many have I killed so far? All the things I've killed in the last four years, they all probably had families. Families which ended with me killing...
...
Those six Horned Rabbits from four years ago. Were they also... Was that the reason for them hiding from me?
...I don't believe it.
I don't want to believe it.
I want to forget what I just saw!
But, even if I didn't come to understand this, nothing would have changed, would it? The fact that I just killed the parents of nine newborn babies. And everything else...
...
I can't imagine losing my parents. I can't imagine losing Fluffy and Tails. How can I continue living without them? Without a family to support me, without a family to return to, I can't...
The two Horned Rabbits lay in front of me, completely motionless. I looked at them one last time, before kneeling down on my knees to pick them up, and put them away in my storage.
...I can't seem to stand back up? My legs feel weak all of a sudden, and I could only kneel on the ground, on my knees.
The area around me is strangely quiet now. Birds are nowhere to be seen, and only the sound of wind blowing can be heard.
I looked up at the sky, and something warm and wet forms on my eyes, flowing down my cheeks. There's some sort of pain growing stronger in my chest, and my tears keep falling.
"It hurts... so much..."
...What have I done?