Chapter 42

Among Eden's seven wonders is the Pastry of Knowledge, desserts offered by a pâtissier who materializes in the cafeteria without warning; because so many who tasted one went on to become Imperial Scholars, students swear the sweets grant instant brilliance. The rumor suddenly matters: Becky warns Anya that students will be sorted into new classes by ability when the term ends, with the coming quizzes rumored to count, and Anya is horrified at the thought of being separated from her friend.

When word spreads that this year's pastries, macarons made by a onetime royal chef, are on sale in Dining Hall 2, Anya and Becky race Damian's trio to the counter, only for George Glooman to snag the final set. Reminded of what he owes the group from an earlier incident, George gives up four of his five macarons, and with five claimants the children settle the shares over a round of Old Maid.

Playing cards for the first time, Anya reads minds to dodge the joker and empties her hand almost instantly, but the boys' accusations of cheating, and Damian's stray thought that mind reading is the only other explanation, panic her into deliberately throwing a second round. Her transparent expressions then betray her completely; Damian picks through her hand with ease until only the two of them remain. Seeing tears well up as Anya imagines flunking into a different class from Becky, Damian silently draws the joker on purpose, telling himself that winning against a crying face would be unfair. Anya hears the thought and offers him half her macaron, which he rejects in a flustered huff, insisting he needs no charm to become an Imperial Scholar.

The pastry fires Anya up to study feverishly, yet her quiz results come back as dismal as ever, stunning the class. At home, Loid observes that spelling mistakes alone sank her Classical Language quiz and briefly wonders how a subject they barely covered came easily to her, perhaps something from her upbringing, before letting the question drop. He lifts her spirits with hamburg steak for dinner, while Yor's offer to attempt dessert sends Bond into a barking panic.

News of ability-based class placements at term's end gives Anya a personal stake in the Pastry of Knowledge rumor.

George Glooman buys the last macaron set, and a game of Old Maid decides its distribution, with Damian secretly taking the loss when Anya starts to cry.

Despite the lucky pastry and a burst of studying, Anya's scores stay rock bottom, though her near pass in Classical Language plants a quiet question in Loid's mind about her past.

Mission 42 fills 23 pages of Volume 7 within the Imperial Scholars Mixer Arc and adapts into Episode 29. Becky, Anya, and Damian appear on the cover, and the pâtissier Pierre Pommier features in the rumor's imagined scenes.

Loid's passing thought about Anya's unexplained ease with Classical Language brushes against the mystery of her origins, a thread the series leaves deliberately open here.