Bermuda

To summarize Alec Siles's explanation, the root of the problem was that although the queen had awakened, her energy had weakened because she had been asleep for too long.

Since her power had diminished, her control over the monsters via pheromones and ultrasonic waves wasn't as strong as before; as a result, the egg-laying functions of other females — functions that should have been suppressed when the queen awakened — remained intact.

Alec went on to say that the egg the two of them had seen was not laid by the queen, but by individuals whose genes were closest to the queen's — essentially first-generation kin.

"Since ancient times in human society, when the king dies, disappears, or can't perform his functions, others who act as king inevitably appear. It's the same in the society of monsters on this peninsula. If the queen can't fulfill her functions, others who aren't the queen lay eggs in her place."

He tapped the ground where the drawing lay spread out with a branch and continued his explanation.

"But this fellow acting like a queen isn't the real queen, so it can't control or gather other individuals. The colony will scatter and gradually weaken."

"..."

"That's why, in this group, they took an egg from the individual with genes most similar to the queen's, coated it with a highly concentrated acidic mucus, and surrounded it with a hard shell to create a new egg. Then the eggshell inside slowly dissolves in the acid and disappears, and the young inside feed on the concentrated nutrients and develop into a new queen individual — on a level different from ordinary individuals."

"...So you're saying that such a created fellow can perform the queen's functions even though it wasn't laid directly by the queen?"

"I couldn't be sure of that until recently either. So I conducted an experiment to find out, and through that outsider you mentioned, it was proven that dermocas chase after the egg, right? It at least performs the function of attracting colony members."

Leonardo nodded slowly in agreement with him.

So the creatures created a new individual to become the next queen to replace the current queen who couldn't perform egg-laying. That was the large, white egg, and because the next-queen individual was inside it, the dermocas had desperately chased it to retrieve the egg.

And such behavior soon proved there was an interaction: the individual inside the egg attracted the creatures, and the creatures tried to protect the queen.

Kenis, listening to the story, frowned slightly as he recalled that Alec had experimented on the outsider. He soon composed his expression and, recalling the final fate of the egg he'd seen back then, said,

"Then at least the elimination of the next-queen individual was successful? Because the egg broke and the individual inside died with it at that time."

At Kenis's words, Alec shook his head.

"It would be nice if it were that simple, but that egg isn't the only one. There are probably several eggs distributed across the peninsula."

"...Pardon?"

"The reason I was able to discover the egg by chance without entering the nest was precisely because of that."

Alec explained there were two main reasons why the peninsula's monsters moved and dispersed eggs.

The first was when a mutant was developing inside an egg. Since mutants have a low probability of surviving birth, if they died near the nest, the nest's location could be exposed, so to prevent this they discard such eggs far outside.

Then mutants that recognized each other as the same species would pick up the discarded eggs and move them to their own nests.

The second case was when an egg was judged unsafe.

The creatures didn't create just one egg as the next queen. They feared the egg might be attacked and the next-queen individual wiped out. Alec argued that scattering eggs across the peninsula served that same purpose.

He said entities attacking the egg included not only humans but also other monsters on the peninsula — and the existing queen.

It was unlikely the queen, who had reigned as the sole creator while preventing other females from laying eggs, would accept a new next queen that didn't come from her own womb.

Although weakened, that individual still occupying the queen's position would use pheromones and ultrasonic waves to control the monsters and try to find and eliminate next-queen individuals threatening her. In this process, the group that broke free from control to protect the next queen likely had intelligence high enough to overwhelm their instincts and resist the queen's pheromones.

Alec speculated that a considerable number of that group were dermocas, and ilaptors would be an extremely small minority among them.

Hearing this, Leonardo asked, as if puzzled,

"Ilaptors are also highly intelligent—so why can't they escape the existing queen's control?"

"From what I've observed so far, not all highly intelligent individuals can escape the queen's control. Even among the dermocas, quite a few seemed to follow the existing queen. But it's especially difficult for ilaptors to break free because they act as nurse bees."

Alec pointed to the drawing he'd made earlier as he explained.

"I said nurse bees literally handle household chores like attending the queen, right? For them, now that the queen has awakened, the nest where she is would be home, and the closer they are to the queen, the stronger they feel the pheromones. It's not easy to go against that."

On hearing that, Kenis glanced around tensely. All around were dense grasses, huge trees with drooping branches, and rocks covered in moss and vines; beyond the faint light through the gaps, the scent of those creatures clearly wafted.

Kenis swallowed and stammered, "Th-then, could the reason why ilaptors' scent is all over this area be..."

Alec grinned, straightened, and stood up. He looked at the sky sparsely covered by branches and answered,

"Because the queen is nearby."

At that, Leonardo was on full alert. Now that he heard it, it wouldn't be strange if those creatures sprang out at any moment. Leonardo, scanning in all directions, suddenly saw Alec's relaxed, almost picnic-like face and glared at him coldly. He ground his teeth and thought,

This bastard — he planned to come to this damn place from the start. What did he tell me? That there would be quite a lot of monsters on the way?

A few years ago, before the queen awakened, creatures were even seen at the peninsula's entrance because the queen didn't lay eggs and didn't need attendants. But after the queen awakened, they had all gathered here to serve as nurse bees, so they hadn't been seen until now.

"Quite a lot," my ass. It means all the ilaptors on the peninsula are gathered here.

Feeling Leonardo's fierce gaze, Alec turned to him and grinned. Leonardo's fist, unable to strike that face, thudded against his side in frustration.

Alec tossed the branch he'd been holding into the bushes and clapped his palms. He took the map and coordinate device from his backpack, compared them to determine their current location, and spoke.

"From now on, we'd better be a bit more tense. The fellows around here are especially vicious and fierce because they're saturated by the nearby queen's pheromones. The queen has been asleep a very long time and is constantly hungry; she must be in a very sensitive state because of the next queen. So even the fellows affected by her pheromones become hypersensitive."

Confirming they had entered the marked area, Alec grinned. With his gaze fixed on the map, he told the two,

"Moreover, you've seen the peninsula's monsters devour each other many times, right? To avoid being eaten by the hungry queen who can control them, the creatures must constantly supply food. They'll always be moving restlessly and in a highly tense state. Perhaps they've already noticed our presence."

Kenis, who'd been concentrating on subtle sounds, turned at Alec's words and asked,

"Then is the recent frequency of monster appearances and attacks because the slumbering queen has awakened? Because they need to gather more food to supply her constantly?"

"That's correct, but there's another reason."

After leaving a small mark on the map, Alec rolled it up and put it back in his backpack. Then, as if revealing the core to the two watching him, he spread his index finger and said,

"It's to lure humans into the peninsula."

At Alec's answer, one of Leonardo's eyebrows rose. Kenis made a puzzled face and asked,

"Lure humans into the peninsula? Why?"

He added, baffled, "From the monsters' perspective, humans are invaders in their home... Wouldn't they try to prevent humans from entering the interior to protect it? In fact, we've been constantly fighting monsters to get here...?"

"To be precise, what seeks to block humans is the queen's will. And the monsters on this peninsula are controlled by the queen's pheromones and ultrasonic waves that carry that will, so it's natural for them to attack humans. But it has been proven that there are definitely fellows who resist that control because of the next queen, right?"

Alec said this while walking slowly forward. His steps pushed through leaves without hesitation and looked so bold and unapologetic that it was as if he were giving a speech in a huge auditorium. Still, Kenis and Leonardo followed at a pace that was far from leisurely.

"But what I want to say is this: putting all that aside, the instinct for the 'prosperity of the colony' is deeply rooted in these creatures, whether they're controlled or not. Their instincts are designed to be controlled by the queen's pheromones like honeybees for that purpose."

Alec, who'd been walking quickly, suddenly stopped and turned.

"Now, think about it. Would the fellows who sense the queen's pheromones and are affected by them not realize that the queen's body has weakened to the point she can no longer lay eggs?"

Leonardo and Kenis, following him, also stopped. Alec's face looked extremely excited and joyful, as if he'd discovered a secret about an unknown world.

"The monsters on the peninsula have succeeded in constantly attacking and provoking humans to draw them into the interior. And at this very moment, the great army of the Council is advancing southward every day, gradually approaching the queen's nest."

"..."

"The society on this peninsula is a kind of dystopia where, unlike humans, the concept of emotion is thoroughly excluded. All members are interlocked like cogwheels, silently performing their roles and living °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° organically."

Alec grabbed Kenis's hand in front of him. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

"In such a place, what do you think would happen to a queen who'd monopolized the role of creator while suppressing other females' egg-laying, if she couldn't perform her own function for the colony's prosperity?"

His eyes and hands trembled slightly, as if filled with madness, so Kenis instinctively stepped back in fear.

"The creatures are telling humans this, even while enduring bloodshed."

His breathing and expression were rapturous. Alec spread his arms wide and shouted at the two as if he were a scholar who had realized a great truth.

"On behalf of us who are controlled by pheromones, for the prosperity of our colony—kill our queen!"