"Damn it... where the hell is Komaeda...?"
The preparations were finished, and the children all headed together for the final island.
Once they arrived, everyone split up to search for Komaeda as efficiently as possible. I did the same, combing through one place after another, trying to find even the faintest trace of him, but no matter where I looked, Komaeda was nowhere to be seen.
'...I guess I'll have to circle the island one more time.'
In the end, I decided to search the whole island again from the beginning, thoroughly this time, and returned to my starting point to retrace the route I'd already investigated.
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"Munch munch... mm, Hinata...? Hey... munch munch..."
"Owari, you idiot!!! What are you eating this time!? You should be investigating properly!!!"
"Ah, Hinata. Good day."
"Uh... hey, guys. Did you find anything?"
At the row of food stalls, I ran into Owari, Nidai, and Sonia, and asked the three of them what they'd turned up.
"Find anything...? Hmm... there's... a lot of really tasty stuff here... munch munch..."
"That's exactly why I'm telling you to stop eating and do the damn investigation properly!!!"
"B-But... I searched everywhere, and there really wasn't anything..."
While Owari and Nidai launched into yet another petty argument, Sonia spoke up beside them.
"We didn't find anything particularly unusual in the food stall district... If I had to name one thing that stood out, I suppose it would be the signs written in Korean..."
"...Yeah. Doesn't seem like Komaeda's here after all."
"By the way, have you visited the military facility? For such a small island, its firepower is rather impressive... It might prove useful later, when we fight Monokuma..."
"Hmm... doesn't seem like I'll get much out of staying here, so maybe I should check that place next..."
Leaving behind Nidai and Owari, who were still bickering, and Sonia, who was muttering to herself while staring at the Korean signs, I headed for the military facility.
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"Seriously... why the hell are there weapons at a tourist spot...?"
"Indeed... even the weapons forged by mankind exude a sinister aura... but compared to my own demonic power, they are still no more than children's toys..."
"...Here we go again."
"I've only ever seen stuff like this in the photos my mom took... I never thought I'd see it in person..."
Souda, Tanaka, and Koizumi were at the military facility. Since Souda and Tanaka were usually glued to Sonia, I found myself wondering why the two of them were here together, so I casually tossed them a question.
"Um... Sonia was over at the food stalls, so why are you two here...?"
"...What? Sonia's at the food stalls...? No way!! What if she picked up something weird and ate it and got sick!?"
The instant he heard that, Souda bolted off in a panic. Looks like he'd been searching for Sonia this whole time.
"...My training is still insufficient. The last incident made that painfully clear. So... if someone like me wishes to stand at her side, I must train for at least another hundred years..."
"Oh my, Tanaka. So this is where you were?"
"S-Sonia...?"
Tanaka had been speaking with deadly seriousness, but the moment Sonia suddenly appeared, his face turned bright red and he hid it behind his scarf. Meanwhile, Souda had just run off to the food stalls to find Sonia... so they must have missed each other.
"Hinata? Why are you here?"
"...I'm searching the island again from scratch. More importantly, where's Saionji...?"
"Saionji said she'd stay with Pekoyama and nurse Kuzuryu, so I left her at the hospital. But more importantly... Komaeda isn't here either. I suppose it's a relief that he isn't in the most dangerous place on the island... maybe...?"
"True... we should be grateful he didn't show up driving a tank..."
The moment I imagined Komaeda rolling up in a tank with that airy "ahaha" laugh of his and shelling the island to pieces, a chill ran down my spine.
I was trying to shake off the grotesque image and leave the military facility when Sonia suddenly cried out.
"...Huh? What's this!?"
"Did you find something...?"
Koizumi and I rushed over, only to find Sonia perched up in the tank's cockpit.
"S-Sonia...! That's dangerous!! Get down from there, now...!"
"D-Dangerous...! Even if it's little more than a toy to me, for an ordinary person like you it would still be quite threatening...!"
As Tanaka and I shouted in alarm, Sonia hopped lightly down from the cockpit and declared in a bright, cheerful voice, "I found something in the cockpit!"
The file in Sonia's hand bore a mark I recognized all too well.
"That's... the symbol of the Future Foundation, right...?"
"Yeah. The organization those two belong to... and Nanami too. Oh, and Monomi was part of it as well."
"Come to think of it, we haven't seen Monomi lately. I wonder where she is?"
"Hm. [Jabberwock Archipelago Development Plan]... my instincts are whispering to me. This document... contains something."
Together, we opened the file titled [Jabberwock Archipelago Development Plan] and began to read.
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I left the military facility and headed toward the factory, lost in thought.
'This place... was an uninhabited island from long ago...?'
According to the document, after "that incident," this island had become deserted, and the Future Foundation was planning to use it as a base of operations.
But if that was true, then why were we trapped on this island, forced into a killing game? And the document said they planned to remodel the administrative institution on the central island into a Future Foundation building... but there wasn't any central island here at all.
'I don't really get it... but maybe we've been overlooking something important.'
Turning that thought over in my mind, I stepped into the massive factory.
"Waaah!! L-Look at those terrifying robots over there!! This is scary as hell!! It totally feels like some murderous robot is gonna jump out any second and start chasing us!!"
"Eeeeeek!! I-I... I hate huge things...!"
"That's... a Monobeast...? Damn it, how many more of those things are they making...? And what the hell is this childish email on the computer? A high school girl destroyed the world? Hah. Give me a break... that's ridiculous..."
Inside the factory were Mioda and Tsumiki, both making a huge fuss, and Souda, who had been poking through a computer before starting to grumble.
"Exactly!! It's total nonsense!! Honestly, it'd be more believable if this place were a virtual reality world, or if all of this turned out to be some reality show!!"
"Seriously... huh? Hinata? Why are you here now...?"
"I'm searching all over for Komaeda... but weren't you supposed to be at the food stalls?"
"That's right! Why the hell did you lie to me? I searched all over and Sonia wasn't there at all! I couldn't find Sonia, let alone Komaeda..."
"Uh... Sonia was at the military facility with Tanaka..."
"W-What!? Damn it!! I should've just stayed there!!!"
With a scream of pure anguish, Souda dashed out of the factory. I was honestly starting to feel sorry for him.
"Upupupu... right...? Pretty pitiful, isn't he...?"
"Gyaaaah!! I-It's here!! The murder machine's here...!!!"
"Hiiiiiik!! S-Save me...!!!"
"Hey... it's just Monokuma."
When I said that to the two of them, who had already squeezed their eyes shut and started shrieking in terror, Monokuma scratched his head and spoke.
"I mean... to be fair, I am a murder machine... I'm armed to the teeth with all kinds of weapons, enough to grind your average person into dust and—"
As Monokuma kept talking while scratching his head, I decided to ask the question that had been bothering me.
"Monokuma, what exactly is the secret of this island...? That file, the [Jabberwock Island Sightseeing Guide]... there are way too many things that don't add up..."
"Upupupu... are you an idiot? Like I'd tell you that!! Upupupupu!!"
"Then... where's Monomi? She's your little sister, isn't she? Don't tell me you don't know where she is..."
The moment he heard that, Monokuma's expression hardened, and he answered flatly.
"Who's that? I've never had a little sister like that."
"...What?"
"I don't know, so don't ask me again...! I'm already pissed off enough that she ruined my plan... how the hell did she tell you the escape code...?"
".....?"
Seeing the baffled look on my face, Monokuma cleared his throat, then spoke again.
"Ahem... maybe I got a little too worked up...? Well, the [supreme weapon] is ready too... so I guess I'll just have to place my bets on 'hope'... Upupupupu..."
"So... why did you come here in the first place?"
"Upupupu? Why else... I came to explain those robots to you!! Now then, listen up! That one there is Monobeast Mk. 3, Komodo dragon type...!"
Leaving Monokuma behind as he enthusiastically launched into a lecture for the others, I walked out of the factory.
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"...Hinata?"
"Nanami, how's it going? Find anything?"
"No... not yet..."
When I entered the plush factory, Nanami greeted me. A little farther inside, Monokuma dolls were still being mass-produced without end.
"No way... these aren't all real Monokumas, right?"
"More importantly... how are they making dolls like that out of palm trees...? This island really is overflowing with mysteries."
Inside the factory, Hanamura and Togami were staring at the endless stream of dolls, both visibly unsettled. Come to think of it, those two were always together. Maybe the cook and the guy who loves eating good food had just gotten weirdly close.
"There are Monokuma goods in the storage room next door... though honestly, I don't feel even the slightest urge to buy any..."
Watching Nanami mutter that under her breath, I sank into thought.
'I've searched this entire new island all over again... and Komaeda's still nowhere in sight. Where the hell did he go...?'
"Looks like... Komaeda isn't here either..."
"Where the hell did that bastard go? Don't tell me... he didn't just fall into the ocean or something...?"
"Hinata, let's gather everyone in one place first. We need to discuss what to do next, together."
"...Yeah. That's probably best."
So Nanami and I left the plush factory and started tracking everyone down, gathering them all in one place.
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"So... none of you saw even a trace of Komaeda, right...?"
"That's correct... We searched even inside the tank from top to bottom... but Komaeda was nowhere to be found..."
"I'm starting to get seriously freaked out... d-don't tell me something happened..."
We gathered at the island's entrance, shared what we'd found, and started discussing it, but while we'd managed to uncover a few hints about the island itself, Komaeda's whereabouts remained a complete blank.
"If he isn't on this island either... then I guess he's somewhere on one of the others after all...?"
"Then... do we have to search every island all over again...?"
"Ugh, what a pain. Even if they're small, islands are still islands. They're bigger than they look..."
While everyone was grumbling, Togami started toward the entrance and spoke.
"...I'll investigate the first island. Since it's where all of us have been living, we may have let our guard down during the search and overlooked something. Anyone who wants to follow me can do so. The rest of you—"
And then, just as Togami stated his plan and began heading for the first island, it happened.
KRA-KOOOOOOOOM!!!
"Kyaaaaaaaah!!!"
"W-What the hell was that!?"
"G-Good lord..."
The deafening roar, the blast of heat, the violent tremor—every one of us was so shocked we collapsed where we stood.
After staring for a long while at the mushroom cloud rising in the distance, I spoke to Togami in a low voice.
"...Togami, I don't think investigating the first island is... really an option anymore... right...?"
"....."
The first island had been blown to pieces.
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