The dark and purple dust filled the sky, indicating that the night had come.
Ronata stared at two rabbits, one white, one brown, that had taken the place beside him as their resting place. These rabbits don't look like a type that is able to dig into the soil, so they had no den and only gathered grass blades to cover their bodies as they cuddled together in there.
After three days of observation, Ronata could confidently say it—the two rabbits were a mate. That's because he had seen them breeding before. And surprisingly, the white rabbit, his old neighbour, was the male. Since it looked so cute and small, Ronata used to think that it was a female until it started to screwing its new mate.
Since Ronata couldn't move, he also could not give the bunny couple privacy. He could only try to ignore them whenever they engaged in sexual activity.
After Whitey brought its hare muse, after this time, Ronata finally found out the reason why Whitey took the place beside him as its territory.
The reason was... Himself.
His Puddle, or water, to be exact.
They began imbibing his water the moment they prepared themselves to engage in a breeding session. They only took several drops of water, so Ronata doesn't really mind it, but he is now curious.
Why would they always imbibe an amount of his water before they do that?
He soon found the reason after he focused his Mana Eye on observing Whitey and its brown wife when they were licking his water.
It's the Mana.
They wanted his Mana, the Mana that was contained inside his water.
The reason why they needed it is still a mystery for him, but they indeed require it for their private activity.
Ronata didn't have much to do as a Puddle, so he began observing them whenever they... Yeah, breeding.
Of course, he was not doing this out of lewd motive, but because they had piqued his interest.
Thus, whenever Whitey put its mate down from behind, Ronata immediately put his other tasks, such as gathering water and Mana from the surrounding, into a passive state, before focusing all his attention on the Mana Eye and began studying their activity, especially in the movements and reactions of the two hares' Mana.
After several sessions of observation, his Mana Eye seemingly has increased in mastery and allows him to see through Mana even deeper.
He now understands that Whitey and its mate would not have any Mana normally. Using Mana from his water, the couple is now able to do some kind of interaction using his Mana, and that interaction in particular seems to be needed for them before they started doing intimate activities between each other.
'Are you unable to have a boner or something without Mana inside you, Whitey?'
... Was what Ronata thought at first, but the further he monitored them, the more he found.
This Mana interaction they had before their breed session was critically needed for them. If Ronata's assumption was correct, then this matter is connected to the couple's fertility.
Perhaps... If they did not have that Mana interaction first, they would become infertile or their purpose in breeding would end up as a failure for one reason or another instead.
At this stage, all of this was just Ronata's assumption. He didn't have enough subjects to take an exact explanation behind their necessity in Mana for they to breed.
For all he knows, they might just have a hobby of drinking Mana-contained water before they have sex or something.
Ronata spent half of the Summer observing Whitey and its mate.
At some point, suddenly, Whitey stopped putting its mate down.
Now, Whitey's mate's stomach had become visibly bigger than usual. Whether it was due to Mana interaction, the couple diligently indulged, or due to Whitey's vigour, their breeding session ended as a success.
Since Ronata knew how much effort the couple had poured into this, he was even slightly touched by it. He genuinely feels happy for them.
'Good for you, Whitey.'
Now that it had extra weight in its body, Whitey's mate couldn't do its normal routine anymore as it would put strain on its pregnant body. Instead of going out together to seek food as usual, now Whitey would become the sole food gatherer in their little herd.
Not that it matters for them since Whitey seemingly is considered a capable one as a rabbit. They usually have an herbivorous diet, but occasionally, Whitey would bring a dead mouse home with it, and they would feast on it together vigorously.
Ronata didn't know, but Whitey and its mate were considered monsters in this world. They are called Harcrum, a low-level monster that, while they don't have notable strength, could outrun an adult with their agile legs. Their four stiletto teeth could also pierce through skin easily, dealing immense pain to their victim. They usually would move in numbers, so a solitary Harcrum like Whitey and its mate was actually rare amongst their kind.
Day by day, Whitey's mate's stomach continued to grow bigger. The birthday is close.
Ronata stared at a pile of mouse Whitey had hunted for its mate.
'Bruh, you sure loves your wife a lot, huh...'
Watching how Whitey cuddling with its mate affectionately could even melt a tired heart like Ronata's. He even started to envy Whitey now.
'Having someone to rely on must've been nice...'
While he began imagining himself, a Puddle, cuddling together with a girl, which in his case, was also a Puddle, he suddenly noticed the presence of a little bug that was flying toward him wobblingly.
The bug looked battered and hurt, the task of flying itself had been too hard for it.
Unsurprisingly, the bug then falls after it reaches its body's limit.
The surprising fact about it is that accidentally, the place the bug fell was the ground bordering Ronata's Puddle side.
The bug's body bounced to the surface of hard soil, then fell straight toward Ronata, drowned in his Puddle.
'Rest in peace, little bug...' Ronata silently offered a prayer for the bug while his water started to dissolve the bug.
At that very moment—
He suddenly gained knowledge.
It felt like the information was being installed into his mind, which surprised him slightly.
And after he checked the knowledge he had newly gained, he became even more surprised.
Because now, after he began dissolving the bug's body, he had gained the knowledge to transform a portion of his water to become the same bug he had just started dissolving.