Togami Byakuya:
I've mostly come to understand the circumstances...
If it's not the master mind, or even Ishimaru or Yamada, then it's obviously the work of the others.
Myself, Naegi, Celes, Oogami, Asahina, Fukawa... someone among us the culprit.
Asahina Aoi:
There's no way we'd steal Alter Ego! There's no reason to do something like that!
Especially with there being no internet here. Kind of makes the laptop useless, if you ask me.
Togami Byakuya:
Well then, how about a possibility such as this?
...there's a traitor.
Naegi Makoto:
...huh?
Togami Byakuya:
Among us is a person on the master mind's side... in other words, the mastermind's mole...
They stole Alter Ego...
...is that unthinkable?
Naegi Makoto:
T-that's...!
Togami Byakuya:
I've been pondering this since before. Wouldn't there be a mole among us...?
To advance this game smoothly, a mole sent in from the mastermind...
A traitor...? The mastermind's mole...?
There's no way... there's something like that...
Something... that frightening...
...mustn't exist!
Togami Byakuya:
...why are you silent? Were you not aware of a possibility like this?
Knowing Naegi, this thought probably didn't even cross his mind.
Yamada Hifumi:
Whatever!!
What... ever...
Anyone will do... so... help...
Save her...
I'm begging you... I'm begging you, so......
That lively girl... bring her back to my side...
Ishimaru Kiyotaka:
I agree...
How many times... will you kill my brother... until you're satisfied...
I'll bow my head as much as you want, so... please... return my brother safely to me...
Asahina Aoi:
I have a hunch that I'm mistaken, but I understand how you two feel...
Kirigiri Kyouko:
At the very least, I expect that the possibility of Alter Ego being destroyed is low right now...
Celes:
If breaking it was their goal, they wouldn't have taken the time to carry it away, and would've destroyed it here.
Oogami Sakura:
In other words, the culprit had some other objective.
Some other objective... huh...
Ishimaru Kiyotaka:
...that's irrelevant... something like that or whatever... is entirely irrelevant to this...
I will definitely get Brother back!! This is a man's promise!!
Yamada Hifumi:
I'll save her and show you!! With the power of love!!
At least Yamada and Ishimaru aren't butting heads anymore.
DING, DONG... DANG, DONG
Monobear:
Uhh, this is a school wide broadcast. It is now 10pm.
From now on it will be “night time”.
Soon the doors to the cafeteria will be locked, and entering will be prohibited.
Well then, sweet dreams. And good night…
Asahina Aoi:
It's already night time, huh...
Celes:
It's too bad but, let's rest for today, and do the search tomorrow.
Yamada Hifumi:
Surely... you can't be saying something so thoughtless...!
Celes:
But, it would be more efficient if we searched during the day, rather than moving around with our tired bodies.
Ishimaru Kiyotaka:
Don't say it's a search or whatever! It's a problem of feeling!!
Kirigiri Kyouko:
But, if we act such that we stand out in the middle of the night, the possibility that the mastermind would be suspicious of us is high...
I too... agree that we should search tomorrow morning...
...Naegi, how about you?
Naegi Makoto:
I... also agree with what Kirigiri's saying...
If we act impatiently and are suspected by the mastermind, then we'll lose everything...
Ishimaru, Yamada... I understand how you feel, but...
For tonight, it would be best if we were patient.
Ishimaru Kiyotaka:
Uggh...!
Yamada Hifumi:
Mmm......
Celes:
Well then, let's break up our meeting for today.
We'll start the search for Alter Ego tomorrow.
Togami Byakuya:
While we're at it... it would be best if, individually, we seriously think about who might be the mastermind's mole...
Naegi Makoto:
............
Alter Ego, having suddenly disappeared...
It was the "hope" we had finally obtained... but, that's...
Because of someone, it's been easily taken away.
Give us hope and drive it into despair. This is almost...
The same as the mastermind's way of doing things...
Then, as expected... the one who stole Alter Ego is...
The mastermind... their mole...?
If that's so, then......
Naegi Makoto:
No, that's wrong! It's not like that!!
Without thinking, I shouted that out.
The problem isn't whether or not there's a mole...
What's really scary is...
The situation that we'd suspect each other...
...that there is the most scary.
Naegi Makoto:
Shit...!
To shake off the strange thoughts in my head... I flopped onto my bed.
And then... I fell into a shallow sleep......
Monobear:
As for murders, with the time and place, the evaluation of them changes in society.
If killing people is evidence of abnormality, then the heroes of the past were mad.
Because a murder that can't be judged is a much stranger case than a murder that can be judged.
I'm not sure what exactly Monobear's getting at here, but he's right in that it's normally the winners who end up writing history (a.k.a. the heroes).
DING, DONG... DANG, DONG
Monobear:
Good morning, you guys! It’s morning, 7am! Time to get up~!
Well, let’s be in high spirits again today~!
Today is... the day we search for Alter Ego...
Naegi Makoto:
Alright, first I'll rush to the cafeteria...!
More fired up than usual, I went towards the cafeteria at a quick-pace.
But... what was waiting for me there was...
Oogami Sakura:
Just this...? What happened to the other guys...?
Asahina Aoi:
...they aren't coming.
Kirigiri Kyouko:
............
In the cafeteria was Kirigiri, Oogami and Asahina, just those 3...
That means, including me...
Naegi Makoto:
It's only... just us 4?
Asahina Aoi:
Jeez! It's because of this that latecomers are a pain!
Oogami Sakura:
Anyhow, until the others gather here, the only thing we can do is wait a little more...
And then, we decided to wait. For everyone else to turn up...
But, no matter how long we waited...
Asahina Aoi:
Hey, it's already 8 a.m.... even though 1 hour has already passed since the meeting time...
Oogami Sakura:
...why is no one coming?
Asahina Aoi:
Hagakure and Celes haven't skipped even once up until now, and yet...
Naegi Makoto:
Moreover, what I'm more curious about is... Yamada and Ishimaru.
For those 2 who were that eager to search to have not come and gathered here...
Kirigiri Kyouko:
...something must have happened.
Naegi Makoto:
Huh...!?
Kirigiri Kyouko:
It was careless... we were too preoccupied with Alter Ego...
For Monobear to present us with the motive and have it end with nothing happening... it wouldn't be like that.
The motive Monobear presented to us...
Monobear:
Ten billion yen!!
If a graduate comes out then I'll present this to them!
Well? It's 10 billion yen! Ten-billion-yen!!
Doesn't that make you happy!?
Naegi Makoto:
No way, for something like money...
And then, I held back what I had started to say.
I should already know.
I should already know how bad it is.
I'll never be able to understand other people's circumstances perfectly...
So... no matter what happens here, it's not strange.
Naegi has finally realized that 10 billion yen is a lot of money. Or at least, enough to kill for.
Kirigiri Kyouko:
It would be best if we went to search. That is, for everyone who didn't come...
Asahina Aoi:
R-right. Why don't we go and check on how they are...
We immediately rushed out.
Kirigiri Kyouko:
It seems like it'd be good if we split up and searched...
Oogami, please do the dormitories. Try visiting everyone's rooms...
And then, Naegi will search the school's 1st floor. And I'll search the school's 2nd floor...
Asahina Aoi:
Then, I'm on the school's 3rd floor!
Kirigiri Kyouko:
Take it easy... if something's happened, call out to someone...
Asahina Aoi:
It would be fine if nothing happened, though...
Naegi Makoto:
...I agree.
Oogami Sakura:
Well then, let's get going...
With an uneasy expression still on our faces, all of us spread out from that place.
And then... I too hurried off to the school's first floor, which I was entrusted with.
...anyways, I'll try searching around the first floor.
So now we get to search the first floor. I'm not sure where we're supposed to go, so I'll try the classrooms first.
Nothing new in this one. Onto the next.
The situation's the same here. I guess we'll head to the room with the gachapon machine next. Or I would, but...
???:
S-someone! Come here!!
This event gets triggered after leaving the second classroom.
Naegi Makoto:
Wha...!!
That voice just now! Was it Asahina's!?
Where was she searching, certainly it was...
Naegi Makoto:
...the 3rd floor!
Faster than I could think, I turned towards the stairs and broke off into a run.
After running up the stairs to the 3rd floor all in one go...
Immediately I caught sight of her standing in the hallway.
Asahina Aoi:
N-Naegi...!
Naegi Makoto:
Asahina, what's wrong...!?
Asahina Aoi:
I-it's terrible...
I opened the door of the rec room there and...
W-when I peeked inside... there was... there was...!
Inside the... rec room...?
Asahina Aoi:
It'd be best if I... sent out for everyone, right...?
I'll... gather everyone and come back, so... you go on ahead, Naegi...!
Flustered, she ran down the stairs.
Naegi Makoto:
The rec room...? What's in there...?
Probably a corpse, knowing this game.
Partly by reflex, I burst in to the rec room.
Once I opened the rec room door, what came before my eyes was...
Celes:
Uu... uu......!
Celes, and she was injured...
So it wasn't a corpse this time, despite the game baiting us into thinking it was. Let's see what's happened to Celes, since she looks in rough shape.
Celes:
Uuu...... Naegi...!
Naegi Makoto:
C-Celes... what happened!?
Celes:
I-I was careless...
I was attacked...
Naegi Makoto:
Attacked!? By who!?
Celes:
A strange... questionable person...
Naegi Makoto:
A strange, questionable person...?
Celes:
A questionable person whose existence itself was strange, so much that I would add the word "strange"...
So certainly, it was a "strange, questionable person"...
I was attack by that strange, questionable person. With that hammer that's dropped there...
There's a hammer here, in the bottom left. It's not obvious that it's there at first, but you can see it pretty clearly when you move the camera to get a better look at it.
What... is this?
It looks like... a wooden mallet, but... it has an awfully peculiar design...
On the head of it... something's written...
Naegi Makoto:
Justice... Hammer... no. 1...?
Celes:
I was attacked with... that hammer...
I avoided it by a hair's breadth but, in doing so, I fell down...
Because of my... habit of not exercising...
She was attacked... with this hammer...?
At any rate... the Justice Hammer no.1...
???:
Naegi, Celes!!
Asahina Aoi:
I brought Sakura along with me!
Oogami Sakura:
C-Celes... what on earth happened here...?
Naegi Makoto:
She was attacked by a questionable person, but...
Oogami Sakura:
A questionable person... you say?
...Celes, tell us in detail. Of this so-called questionable person...
Celes:
Umm... it was this morning...
I was waking up at 7 a.m., when night-time ends...
Night-time was ending very soon, so with the naive thought that it'd be okay, for a little bit...
In the school's 1st floor, I took a leisurely stroll.
...I was wrong about that.
There, I happened to see the questionable person. I saw that they hid their face, it was a suspicious, questionable person.
Since they were obviously suspicious, I decided to stealthily follow them.
Thereupon, the questionable person entered this rec room right here, so I tried to secretly peek inside through the opening of the door...
...there, I was discovered by the questionable person, and I was attacked.
Oogami Sakura:
Well then, you were attacked when...
Celes:
I was attacked right after night time had ended... after 7 a.m. in the morning...
Naegi Makoto:
You were attacked after 7 a.m....
Oogami Sakura:
That's about 1 hour before now. Around the time we were gathered in the cafeteria.
Celes:
When I was attacked, I fainted.
From there until now... it seems I was out for about an hour.
That's quite a while to have been knocked out. Must've been quite the fall.
Asahina Aoi:
But... it's good that you were only injured...
Celes:
Because I pleaded for my life with all I had...
Oogami Sakura:
You pleaded for your life...?
Celes:
I'll really do anything so please just spare my life... I'll lick everywhere possible so please spare me...
...what the hell? She literally says "I'll lick everywhere possible", I double checked this line.
Oogami Sakura:
To throw away your admirable pride...
Celes:
This too was also... a means to survive...
More than that, let's search for this questionable person right away.
If we don't hurry...
something terrible might happen...
Something... terrible?
Another Reaction Talk event. This gives us a chance to talk to Asahina or Oogami if we want, but they only have one-liners that indicate that we should probably be talking to Celes.
Celes:
Hurry, if we don't find that questionable person...
something terrible might happen.
>something terrible
Naegi Makoto:
Celes... by "something terrible", what do you mean...?
Celes:
When I peaked into the rec room, there I saw another person, besides the questionable one.
It was Yamada...
Naegi Makoto:
Y-Yamada!?
Celes:
Moreover, after that questionable person attacked me, they took Yamada away...
Oogami Sakura:
You're saying he was abducted!?
They must've been pretty strong, if they literally carried him away.
Asahina Aoi:
Wouldn't it be best if... we rushed off and searched for him?
Hey, Celes... this questionable person, did they have any features that stood out?
Celes:
Features... that is...
Rather that explaining it, it might be faster if you see it for yourself.
Naegi Makoto:
See it for ourselves...?
Celes:
That digital camera. The one Yamada didn't want anymore...
Naegi Makoto:
By chance, did you...!
Celes:
Sneakily, I photographed the questionable person.
Asahina Aoi:
Really!? Show us!
Celes:
Please don't be surprised.... but even though I’ve said that, it might be difficult not to be...
After that strange preface, in the image shown on the digital camera was...
Naegi Makoto:
Huh...?
Whaaaaaat!?
Certainly... it was a questionable person with their face hidden, but...
We've hit the image limit for this post, so that's all for now.
Next time, we'll talk more about this "questionable person" in the photograph.