Part 63: Super High-school Level Update #56

We're off to the cafeteria.





Oh, Naegi-chi!
Hagakure-kun...? So, that note in my room...



Yeah, I wrote it.
I wasn’t expecting that kind of penmanship from you...
I was taught sloppy handwriting can bring a curse upon you, ‘right?

...By who, your first-grade teacher?

...So, what do you want from me?



I just wrote what Kirigiri-chi asked me to.
Kirigiri-san...?



I’m only the messenger here.



But leaving that aside, how do you feel about going for a nice bath?
...Huh?



Right. Let’s go!
Um, I don’t think...

Hagakure-kun drew near me, and whispered in my ear.

I’m just acting so the mastermind won’t notice... Everyone is already there...

Everyone is at the public bath...?

Does that mean... Alter Ego’s analysis is finally over...?

...Sure, Hagakure-kun! Let’s go to the bath together!!

I made that declaration loudly, and then...
Me and Hagakure-kun hurried to the public bath.



As soon as we entered the locker room, a loud yelling voice reverberated through the room.



Hey, you bastards! How long were you thinking to keep us waiting?!!

Ishimaru-kun raised an irritated voice at us as he checked his wristwatch.

It’s almost 10pm! Time for all good kids to be in bed!!



Oh, shut up, you...



...What’s that!? Are you going to cry...?



Ishimaru... I see your condition is as grave as was reported.
That said, it’s not so bad. You finally built some character.



What was that, you fucker?! Don’t speak to me as if you have something rotten stuck between your teeth!!



How rude. A dung beetle like you speaking that way to someone as grand as Byakuya-sama...



Oh my. It seems we’re back to gloomy Fukawa-san. It’s difficult to tell the difference sometimes.



S...shut up...!



Um, I think everyone is here! If that’s so, my role as a messenger is over, ‘right?



Kirigiri, it was you who requested this meeting. What do you have to say?



Isn’t it obvious?! It’s all about Alter Ego!



Yeah! Did it finally find something helpful!? What is it? The mastermind’s identity? A way out?



.......................



Before hearing what Kirigiri has to say, we have a chance to talk to everyone, so let's do that.



Grrr... He’s so annoying...



W...what do you want...? Aren’t you speaking to the wrong person...?



Has Alter Ego honestly discovered something? Kirigiri has a strange expression on her face...



It’s almost 10pm, you know! Just get on with it!!



We finally found something helpful, didn’t we!
Let’s have Kirigiri-chan tell us all about it already!



...it’s nearly Night Time.
Let’s get this over with quickly.



Kirigiri-chi sure likes to stage these dramatic moments, doesn’t she.
Does she really have such an incredible announcement to make?!



Whatever it is you want to talk about, I hope it isn’t boring.



That's everyone. Let's talk to the person we're supposed to.



It’s gone...
Gone...?
I found out when I came in here to check on things earlier this evening...
Alter Ego... the laptop... disappeared...
Eh!?





Y...you’re bluffing, right...!?



................



Eh...? Eh...? She’s... not here...?



Don’t mess with me! Where did you take my brother!?



It’s probably the mastermind’s doing, isn’t it? Perhaps he noticed what was going on?



Alter Ego said it would give a shout if anyone it didn’t recognize came into the locker room...
If it was the mastermind who took the laptop, I should have heard something.



Maybe... you missed it?



I was in the laundry room next door all day. I couldn’t have missed something like that.
B...but... If it wasn’t the mastermind...



...I have already solved this mystery. It is you who is the culprit!



Ishimaru Kiyotaka-dono! You’re the villain who took her away, aren’t you!?



Aaa!? I’m a Super High-school Level Hall Monitor! It’s my job to keep things in order!! I will never be a culprit!!



You’re sure full of yourself, aren’t you.



If anyone here is suspicious, it’s you... Your face and your 100 percent body fat tell me the whole story!



What was that?! This isn’t even my true form! I still have three transformations left in me!
...I mean, it wasn’t me!! I’m sure it’s you who is the culprit!!



Nonsense! It’s you!!



Um, I don’t think anyone is going to confess here, so how do we decide which one it is?



I think the probability it’s either of them is low.



Eh!? Why do you say that!?



I told Alter Ego to raise its voice if either Ishimaru-kun or Yamada-kun came into the locker room.



Y...you did what!?



I felt there was danger one of you would try to take it away, so I took some precautive measures.



Nevertheless, it never yelled...



That means it wasn’t either of them.



So... who was it?



I think I have it...
If it wasn’t the mastermind, and it wasn’t Ishimaru or Yamada, it must be one of the remaining students.



Me. Naegi. Celes. Oogami. Asahina. Fukawa... The culprit is in this list.



Why would any of us do such a thing?! We have no reason to!



How about this possibility...?



...We have a traitor among us.
...Eh?



One of us is working for the mastermind... That is, they’re a mole...
And it was they who took Alter Ego away...
...Doesn’t that make sense?
T...that can’t be...!



I’ve been thinking about it for a while now. There could be someone among us working for the other side...
The mastermind may be employing someone to make sure this game runs smoothly...



A traitor...? A mole for the mastermind...?
I can’t believe... that that’s true...

Such a... terrible thing...

...It can’t be true!



...Why are you all so quiet? Didn’t any of you think of that possibility before?



I don’t care!!





I don’t... care...
I don’t care who... just save her...
Please save her...
Please... I beg of you......
Bring that angel back to me...



I feel the same...
If I lose my brother again... I don’t know what I’ll do...
Please... If anyone saves my brother... I won’t even mind bowing down before them...



I hate to admit it, but I think I understand how they feel...



At the very least the chances that Alter Ego has been destroyed are very low at this point.



If that was the culprit’s goal, it would serve them much better to just destroy it in this room.



That means the culprit had some other goal in mind.

A different goal...?



...that doesn’t matter right now... None of it matters...



I will definitely bring brother back!! That’s what a man’s promise is all about!!



I’ll show you! I’ll save her! With the power of love!!

*Ding dong ding dong*







Ehhh.... This is a school announcement. It is now 10pm.
Night Time begins now.
The cafeteria’s doors will be locked shortly. You are forbidden to enter it.
Well then, good night. I wish you all have pleasant dreams...



So it’s already Night Time...



I’m sorry, but can we leave the investigation for tomorrow? Let’s all go get some rest.



How can you say that so calmly...?!



It will be much more efficient to work during the day than to run around tired.



This isn’t about efficiency! It’s all about the attitude!!



If we all move around during the night, the mastermind is sure to notice something is wrong...
I’m in agreement. We should postpone the investigation until tomorrow.
...Naegi-kun, what do you think?
Yeah... I think I agree...
If the mastermind notices, we lose everything...
Ishimaru-kun, Yamada-kun... I know how you feel, but...
Just try to endure for one night.



...!



Uu......



Well then, let’s all go get some sleep.
We start looking for Alter Ego first thing tomorrow morning.



I also suggest you all think hard about who might be the mastermind’s mole...
..............



Alter Ego, suddenly gone...

The single point of hope we held...
Snatched away from us by someone.

We were given hope only to be slapped down by despair. It’s just like...
...Just like the mastermind’s methods...

Was Alter Ego really taken by...
...by someone working for the mastermind...?

If that’s really the case......



I won’t believe it! It can’t be true!!

I suddenly raised my voice without noticing.

The problem isn’t whether there’s a mole among us or not.

The really scary things...
Are the feelings of suspicion that are sure to creep up between us......

...That is what scares me the most.

Shit...!

As troubling thoughts floated inside my head, I fell down into the bed.

And then... drifted into light sleep...



MONOBEAR THEATER



With each era, the values of killing change within society.
If killing is proof of disorder, all of history’s heroes would have to be put on trial.
It is indeed the unjudged killings, rather than the judged ones, that are the true cases of disorder.