"It just hopes you'll lay it to rest."
Xiao Xiao explained Shaggy Ghost's request.
"...Lay it to rest?"
The girl's voice wavered.
"Isn't that a very simple request?"
Xiao Xiao understood why she was surprised.
The girl nodded blankly. "...It is simple."
"So those nightmares... and the strange sounds..."
"Were they all telling me to go back and lay the rabbit to rest?"
The girl felt an indescribable mix of emotions.
There was the relief of having a weight lifted off her shoulders, but also an absurdity that made her want to laugh and cry at the same time.
"Those... the..."
The girl opened her mouth. "...So that's what they meant?"
The girl smiled wryly. "I couldn't understand what all that 'thump, thump, thump' meant."
"Wait, do rabbits sound like that?"
The girl muttered under her breath, but the doubt vanished in an instant, and she didn't dwell on it.
"And that dream was way too cryptic."
Thinking of the nightmare she'd had who knew how many times, the girl rubbed her temples. "I couldn't understand what it meant at all."
She'd thought the dream was the rabbit's resentment toward her.
"If I'd known, I would've gone back and buried the rabbit properly from the start."
The girl shook her head. "I forgot, too."
"After I got scared off by the rabbit's corpse, the strange voices and nightmares that came afterward scared me even more. All I could think about was getting away from there as quickly as possible and forgetting the whole thing..."
"I never thought..."
The girl pressed her lips together and didn't continue.
Bringing it up now made her feel as though she were just making excuses.
Even though she wasn't lying.
"Then, Master Xiao..."
The girl looked up at Xiao Xiao. "If I just