Everyone was nervous…
We begin with a few shots of [Sherry]'s guard outside her study, cutting to various shots of her room, and a romantic-minded [Sherry] herself eating a piece of chocolate, commenting on the sweetness. Cue the Opening.
And the tension was broken with that opening scene. Everyone except Minoru and Sherry laughed lightly. Strangely, Minoru just held her tighter on his lap.
[Cid] walks out after school, reading a pamphlet of sorts. He calls out to [Nu], who is walking behind him disguised as a student. Startled, she answers in the affirmative. They discuss her reasoning for the disguise. As they sit on a bench she informs him that the man they captured had his mind destroyed by strong brainwashing- AKA magical hypnosis. As she expressed her disappointment, [Cid] looked over the pamphlet, which was addressing the {Student Preliminaries of the Bushin Festival}.
The news of brainwashing impacted everyone not from Shadow Garden heavily, since it meant that none of them could be safe. Every one of them could be compromised if that was possible. This especially impacted Rose, who was being slightly derided for pursuing the Sword Arts when it was viewed as barbaric…
"Brainwashing… Just how young do the procedures begin?" Iris clenched her fists.
"According to our research, they capture anyone who has a good amount of mana from a young age, but those in orphanages are a common pick since most wouldn't wonder about their disappearance," Nu sighed sadly.
This time, even Alexia and Klaus were pissed.
Minoru didn't really care since that was a common trope in some mangas he read, but it did bother him a bit.
The shadows frowned too, slightly sympathetic.
As [Nu] explained how the costume was obtained, [Cid] flashbacks to earlier that day, when [Hyoro] stupidly reveals that he had signed [Cid] for the tournament by proxy, expecting gratitude. As the two stooges try to make the disguised monster of a boss participate, they get punched in the solar plexus. [Hyoro] specifically told him to draw some girls, while [Jaga] specifically told him to send some girls over to him, necessitating the punches. Of course, he shakes his hands to show weakness. The flashback ends with [Nu] infodumping about the {Children of Diabolos}.
Claire is absolutely pissed that the stooges had the gall to force entry- completely ignoring the fact that she'dve done it if it weren't for the fact that she was beaten to it.
"HOW DARE THOSE TWO DO SUCH A THING!? THAT IS ONLY SOMETHING I CAN DO! THOSE LITTLE…" Too bad she was silenced by Seiichi. Minoru appreciated that though.
That wasn't to say that the others weren't pissed. They were just less vocal about it. Shadow Garden was frothing at the mouth at their gall, for instance.
"Still, you don't seem particularly bothered to participate, Minoru-san," Sherry noted.
"Well, while tournament arcs are popular in anime, I don't really wanna go… wait, mind as well make use of the situation," Minoru eyes suddenly glimmed in realisation.
Rose's eyes widened while Beta wrote it down.
"... Regarding the children, it was a magnificent info dump, but maybe just write it down next time? It doesn't really matter for Shadow-sama," Epsilon whispered awkwardly, Minoru-sama facade was spot on, but it would indeed be useless for him unless he needed something specific.
Nu took note of that.
As Nu is unaware, she just prattles about her suspicions. Cid, in the meanwhile, feels that the tourney is stupid and doesn't wanna enter. Voicing results in a standard misunderstanding, but it works. Cue info about {Named Children}, specifically [Rex, the Rebel Play]. [Cid], as is normal for him, thinks he's in a play that he needs to prepare for, but [Nu] misconstrues his words as his knowing- and preparing for the {Cult}'s next move. This leads to her thinking of it as {Shadow Wisdom}...
Again, the misunderstanding prompts embarrassed blushing from Nu, but she now knows it's fine considering Epsilon-sama's words and her lord nodding along to her on-screen words, Delta giving her a thumbs up. He agrees that it's indeed the perfect opportunity.
Just think about the potential of Mob techniques for losing on purpose! Of course, in privacy, after all, he still wants to feel like a mob for a bit.
[Nu] reflects on her life before {Possession}, which prompts a flashback to a party where she is seen laughing as she dances with one [Marco Granger], before she is Possessed, leading to the flashback ending as she rathers it be the way it is now, since her master- [Shadow] the doofus to us- is better than him. In the background, [Marco] is seen ordering something at the Academy cafeteria
"Wait, Nicolette Marquez!?" Iris exclaims in shock, since she recognized Nu in that flashback. Unfortunately…
"I have cast that name aside with my induction to Shadow Garden. I only answer to my lord Shadow and the Seven Shades as Nu. You would do well to remember that." Nu coldly responded with a chilling stare. It was enough to unnerve Claire.
Minoru pats her head to calm her down… She almost grows dog ears and a tail to match as she melts under that assault.
Iris nodded accordingly, terrified, Alexia blinking, "Wait, does this mean all of you had a previous name?" She knows of Delta's, but…
The shades squinted, clearly having either forgotten theirs or just not bothering like Zeta.
Timeskip to the Preliminary tourney, as we see [Claire] dominating. She's apparently good enough for [Iris] to have an eye on her, and for [Claire] to apparently be compared to [Rose] in ability… Though [Cid] and {Shadow Garden} already dismissed everyone in either the {Academy} or the {Knights} as fodder. [Alexia] is out with her injuries. Gambling ensues in the background. The two stooges placed a bet on [Claire]'s opponent… What idiocy. It's revealed that [Rose] is up against [Cid], who everyone's dismissed as plain.
Minoru's grinning. Everyone's terrified, as that's enough to scare them…
"Minoru-san, would you mind analysing my pose during the fight? I'd be most honoured," Rose exclaimed fiercely.
Minoru nods, "Sure, no problem, although… Claire," his sis freezes, "... we'll be training plenty after this, as it is, you're fine, but I'm still not done teaching you."
Just being subtle about it isn't enough anymore.
She nods belatedly, having recognized the same thing, she's one of the weakest there.
Alexia grins, the idiots are going to lose everything. Iris shivers over her sister's maniac face.
Cue mini-intro to [Rose]... We're spoiled by a [Cid] monologue. Of course he thinks he's fortunate… since no one's supporting him. His 48 techniques that he trained his entire life for, now will come to play here! The match starts.
Excitement courses through the group… Only Minoru's excitement will be rewarded, though…
"Those techniques sound interesting," Aurora commented, Beatrix still doesn't understand what "mob" means, no matter how many times Alpha tried to explain it.
As they charge at each other, [Cid]'s perception dilates again, as he waits for… 'NOW!" He plops a blood packet into his mouth and proceeds to let [Rose]'s sword pass under his, hitting him square on the chest. Time Dilation ends as he rolls with the blow, adding a dramatic flip as he lets the blood flow out of his mouth from the packet. THIS IS THE MOB-STYLE TECHNIQUE- SPINNING DRILL FALL: BLOODY TORNADO!
Cue everyone being disappointed… Why woul- OF course! Perfect cover!
Alexia loses her shit-eating grin, seeing as Rose won. The idiots won the fucking bet.
Minoru approves, ignoring her downcast face. "From what I see, you tried creating your own sword style, right? It's tuned to you perfectly and beautifully to boot, but you tried incorporating the basics, although I can help improve on it…" he was about to continue, Rose nodding, when he paused, "Wait, why's everyone silent?"
"Er, how do I say this, people with that amount of blood loss usually die. So, while it is indeed impressive, we already saw your bloody tornado, not to mention people's reaction on-screen," Aurora smiled strained.
"..."
As [Cid] exults in his mind about being the perfect NPC, he proceeds to ruin it in his zeal- challenging her repeatedly and failing on purpose repeatedly as the audience starts ADMIRING his tenacity. Finally, [Rose] is declared the winner, as she starts respecting his desire to challenge her- in her perception. Despite his yelling about his need to show off his Mob-Style.
It's Minoru's turn to be disappointed. He went too far! Alpha pats him consolingly, truly the jury took too long to order him to leave, no wonder people thought he was dying.
Rose blushes at his skill- Faking it to the extent he has is very hard- given the speeds she has access to and her dynamic vision. She's also interested in his offer to improve, though she is happy to know that he finds her blade to be beautiful.
Alexia facepalms while Claire cringes at the demonstration.
Sherry for a moment there, forgot it was fake blood while Eta questioned their quality.
As the two stooges despair that the dark horse of the tournament refuses to raise his blade against his betrothed, we see [Cid] walking with too many bandages to be comfortable with around his head, as he hopes to be able to show off the rest of his techniques. Ass. Just then, [Sherry] shyly, and cutely, call out to him. Of course, he doesn't recognize her, even though the scene has a romantic aesthetic to it
Immediately, Sherry goes into depression, as Minoru tries cheering her up. Alexia just smugly smiles in triumph…
Rose worries about his ability to breathe in these bandages, given his nose and mouth are also wrapped up.
Beta tries wiping the romantic sheen off in jealousy.
Of course, our pink-haired cinnamon roll admires his Mob-style techniques as well… ignorance is bliss. [Cid] agrees with that evaluation… as he drinks tea through the goddamn bandages! [Sherry] gives him cookies- in exchange for the chocolate. And she wants to start off as friends… Oh, how adorable of her! Too bad this dense-ass idiot doesn't even recognize who he gives his chocolate to! Then she reports to [Lutheran], who's reading his newspaper behind them… [Cid] recognizes him, of course, and finally realizes who Sherry is. Of course, in the small talk, [Lutheran] leaks that she's working on artifact research for the {Knight Order}, and requests [Cid] to take care of her. Of course, to maintain his obscurity, he's gonna try to stay at home for a few days to keep distance…
This all looks too sus for Minoru… who tells the Shades and Nu as much. "Nu, Alpha-tachi, do me a favour and really keep an eye on Lutheran, please. You don't leak military research unless you're a traitor…"
Iris and Klaus nod along, now suspecting him as well.
Sherry bites her lip, unsure what to think.
Dusk, at her study, [Sherry] contemplates visiting [Cid] to check up on him, completely ruining his plans, but remembers seeing him with [Alexia] in the study… so naturally, she decides on a different course. As our himedere princess enjoys her black and unsweetened coffee- disparaging everyone who enjoys it sugary and with milk, she receives a curious sakura-haired little visitor. [Sherry] proves to enjoy her coffee with entirely too much sugar and milk, irking the white-haired bitch.
Alexia was also irked at the same time in reality… more because she didn't know what coffee was.
Seiichi, noticing this, went ahead and served a steaming mug of coffee to everyone else present… He took his own mug with two heaped tablespoons of sugar… mostly because he was used to it. He liked his black as well, but appreciated the use of milk and sugar to deepen the flavour.
Aethra didn't like coffee, so she switched it to hot cocoa.
Minoru also enjoyed it black- he only went with sugar and milk as an NPC.
Claire ended up enjoying it black- though she added a lump's worth of sugar.
Rose added a lump's worth of sugar, and a dash of milk after tasting it black.
Iris and Sherry ended up following the Sherry on-screen for their preference. Neither had a liking for the bitter taste
Klaus added more milk than Rose, but kept his mug unsweetened.
The SG girls took theirs black- to follow in their master's footsteps. Aurora enjoyed the sweetness, so she added sugar, though Beatrix added milk.
[Alexia]'s two guesses as to why [Sherry] was visiting her ended up missing… She was here to ask about her history with [Cid]. When the princess denied dating him now, the cinnamon roll ended up eliciting [Alexia]'s jealousy and rage with her happiness. As such, when [Sherry] left her room in high spirits, we hear [Alexia] trashing her room in anger, much to [Marco]'s shock. Of course, pink ahoge acted as an emotion tracker for us viewers
Iris could only deadpan at her younger sister, who cringed at the stare she received. Klaus was considering betrothing Alexia to Cid, before remembering that Minoru was too powerful without any real political power. He wondered what he would have to give up for her happiness.
Rose could only give a brittle smile, as she saw Sherry being happily hugged by Minoru in response.
"My deepest apologies, princess," Beta said sadly.
"Cut the crap, I know you're smiling inside," Alexia glared at her.
Alpha sighed at the bickering while Delta didn't see the problem.
As [Cid] revelled in his NPCness after 5 days- better treatment notwithstanding- the Student Council came in to lecture about the Student council elections, as planned. No one noticed the disguised boss squeezing a custom gripper in his hand. Meanwhile, underground, the Gaunt Knight and hooded mooks begin their plan by using an artifact to put up a reddish barrier around the school grounds, tinting that area red, inside and out. [Cid] immediately notices, due to his magic senses being superior, but the rest don't. [Alexia] the White-haired Slasher is outside as she notices the issues with the school security. Cue brutalized corpse and resulting horror
"Dammit all, I both want this and don't want this to occur!" Minoru yells out, to everyone's shock.
"W-What the heck Cid?!" Alexia screeches, Minoru ignores her, still struck.
"On one hand, It's the perfect School Siege scene! On the other hand, that artifact won't stop me!" The SG girls calm down, relieved, as he's worried about the cool factor.
"... Minoru-kun, I love you, but I doubt any artifact could stop you," Sherry apologises, Alexia and Claire making a face.
Eta then suggests they come up with one.
Cue a group headache as the trio start blabbing helplessly.
[Cid] discovers that magic can't be molded outside the body for now. His enhanced senses note the people coming for them, and his eyes widen. As our siegers blast in, announcing themselves as {Shadow Garden}, [Rose] tries fighting them, but ends up discovering her restricted magic. Of course, the siegers slash at her, only for [Cid] to take the slash to his body- much to [Rose]'s horror. Cue ending featuring [Zeta]
You can imagine the silence in the hall at that. Even Claire is shocked still. Eventually, Minoru shouts.
"YAHOOOOOOO! I DID THAT! YES! ANOTHER ONE OFF THE BUCKET LIST, BABY!"
Rose stares at him then frowns, "Minoru-san, I appreciate the fact that you're having fun, but even Claire-san's having a cardiac attack there."
"Tha-"
"Yes, we know that you're invincible, Minoru-sama, but please be cautious, your luck isn't infinite," Epsilon said, deeply concerned. Aurora had similar thoughts.
Minoru deemed it unnecessary, but considered it.