Mission 42 (
Summary[]
The Pastry of Knowledge
The chapter begins with rumors of the Pastry of Knowledge, considered one of the Seven Wonders of Eden Academy. It is said that a mysterious pâtissier randomly appears in the cafeteria and offers extraordinarily delicious desserts. As many of those who managed to eat this pastry have become Imperial Scholars, it has become rumored that the pastry makes one instantly smarter.
Anya listens to Becky's explanation about their separation
In the cafeteria, Anya and Becky play pretend with their matching sheep keychains. Becky tries to play a romantic story with a prince and a battle story with twins separated at birth, but Anya does not understand and refuses to play along. Becky tells Anya news about how they are going to divide them into new classes by ability at the end of the term. After hearing Becky's explanation, Anya is horrified that she might be all alone, so Becky encourages her to work harder. Becky adds that the grouping is rumored to be based on not just midterms and finals, but tomorrow's quizzes too, and is particularly disgusted at one of them being on Classical Language.
Anya and Becky overhear an older male student whispering to another student about the Pastries of Knowledge selling in Dining Hall 2, made by a formal royal chef visiting today. The student adds that eating one guarantees one for Imperial Scholar, to the shock of Anya and Becky, and that they are macarons this year. They quickly run off to get them before the limited supply runs out. Anya and Becky look at each other before they run off as well.
Anya and Becky race against Damian, Ewen, and Emile to the cafeteria
Anya thinks she could be a genius if she eats one, while Becky is excited to try macarons from a former royal chef. They soon see a queue of students for the pastries, but Damian, Emile, and Ewen run up next to them with the same goal. The server announces that there is only one order left of the special Pierre Pommier Macaron set. The two groups try to be first to get the last set but are stunned when George Glooman has already ordered the macarons. The server announces that the special item is sold out as George cheers for his luck.
Damian and Becky rush up to George and demand he gives the macarons to them. When George says they are his as he bought them with his allowance, the kids remind him what he owes them from last time. George concedes to give up four macarons out of the set of five macarons. They realize they have five people and decide to have a round of Old Maid to determine who gets the macarons.
The boys announce a new round without Anya's cheating
Anya is unaware of the rules as she has never played cards before, so Becky quickly explains them to her. Damian and Emile scheme to stick Anya with the Joker, but Anya easily figures out which of their cards is the Joker with her mind-reading abilities and quickly gets rid of all her cards. Damian and his friends are in disbelief and accuse her of cheating. Damian thinks the only other explanation is that she can read minds if she is not cheating. Anya hears his thoughts and begins to panic. To convince them otherwise, she agrees to play another round and purposefully make mistakes by taking the Joker from Ewen's deck. She gets tempted to hit Damian and his friends when they laugh at her expense, but Becky calms her down.
Anya and Damian in the final round
Anya is relieved that she averted their suspicions and decides to have Damian take the Joker from her. However, her facial expressions are very easy to read, allowing Damian to easily pick another card from her deck, much to her dismay. Everyone else gets rid of the cards, leaving only Anya and Damian. George comments that Damian is also terrible at the game, while Becky cheers Anya on. Anya panics at the thought of not getting a macaron, thus failing her tests and being in a different class from Becky. As Damian is about to take a card, he notices Anya starting to cry, which stuns him before he makes his next move.
Anya gets fired up for the quiz after eating the macaron
After the game, George gives everyone their share of the macaron except Damian, who purposefully took the Joker at the sight of Anya's crying face, which he thinks was unfair. Anya reads his mind and offers to share half of her macaron with Damian. Damian blushes and rudely rejects her in embarrassment, saying he does not need it to become an Imperial Scholar. After the four winners eat their macarons, Anya suddenly becomes fired up after eating the pastry and studies excitedly until their quizzes the next day.
When their results come back, Henry Henderson shows that Anya's quiz results are just as bad as before, leaving Anya and the other students in disbelief. Becky tries to cheer up the depressed Anya so that she will make it up on her finals.
Loid and Yor review Anya's quizzes
At home, Loid and Yor look at Anya's quiz papers while Anya goes to her room to sulk. Loid notes that she would have done well on her Classical Language test if not for her spelling mistakes. He wonders how she did so well if they barely studied the subject and if she is acquainted with it due to her upbringing, but brushes it off as there would be no point in wondering. Loid cheers Anya up by telling her that he made her favorite hamburg steak for dinner. Yor adds that she tried to make dessert, making Bond bark in horror.
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