Warning: The following contains spoilers for The Eminence in Shadow, Episode 28, "The Dragon's Tears," now available to stream on HIDIVE.

The previously portrayed episode of the Eminence in Shadow anime series explores the collapse of credit as John Smith (Shadow) and Yukime's plans entered the final phase. As Mitsugoshi was about to follow the established credit system and the Major Corporate Alliance in their collapse, a hidden truth was revealed.

After the Great Trading Company Conflict arc of the Eminence in Shadow anime arc ended, fans wondered what the new episode would portray. While many were expecting some new adventure or arch nemesis, it seems the Seven Shadows take a break from battling the cult. But even without the menacing Cult of Diablos, there are a plethora of mysteries waiting to be solved, and Shadow’s misleading words do not make them better.

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Mitsugoshi Hot Springs Land

As always, Cid’s background character friends, Skel and Po, explore their options for getting women. As they barge into Cid’s room with their plan of getting with older women, they discover that Cid is not inside but see VIP tickets to the grand opening of Mitsugoshi Hot Springs Land on his table. As not even high-ranking nobles get such tickets, Skel and Po quickly devise a plan to chick hunt with the tickets, as their odds will go through the roof. With six tickets on the table, Skel and Po allocate three for girls and one for each other.

Reveling in joy, the duo quickly head to ‘pick up’ some Mitsugoshi girls and come across Nu. Furious as to how such mannerless, rowdy, and unrestrained boys like them could get their hands on such premium VIP tickets, Nu questions them. However, when the boys tell her that the tickets were gifts from Cid, Nu decides to report to the Seven Shadows.

The Dragon’s Tears

After Nu reports to the Seven Shadows about Skel and Po, who want to take Mitsugoshi girls on a date after they allegedly received the VIP tickets from Cid, the Seven Shadows try and decode what message Cid could be trying to send to them using his schoolmates. As the Seven Shadows try to figure out Shadow’s motives, they delve into how Mitsugoshi Hot Springs Land came to be. In a quick flashback, fans see how Shadow and the Seven Shadows, as children, participate in a raid. The last of their opponents tells Shadow that he’ll never have the dragon's tears. Intrigued with the dragon's tears, Alpha explains how the region's folklore references the tears. Now very interested, Shadow orders the Seven Shadows to dig up the entire region. After three days of continuous digging, Shadow simply leaves the region in a hurry. While Alpha thinks he’s up to the mysterious crucial missions that only he can handle, fans can deduce that Shadow possibly ran away. As the Seven Shadows continue digging, they find a hot spring that eventually birthed Mitsugoshi's Hot Springs Land.

The origin of the folklore surrounding the dragon’s tears stems from a kind, gentle princess who once rescued a small dragon. As the princess and dragon grew up together, they quickly became friends. Unfortunately, war broke out and the dragon was injured fighting to protect the Princess; however, on finding the Princess, the dragon saw that she was near death, and a single tear fell from the Princess’ eye. Seeing this, the dragon also began to cry uncontrollably, and his tears flooded the land. Mysteriously, the princess awoke with warmth, but the dragon was nowhere to be seen.

The Misunderstandings Only Get Worse

As fans know, Cid has no involvement in what is currently going on, but the Seven Shadows keep trying to cook up a plot that does not exist.

After the Seven Shadows reminisce on the creation of Mitsugoshi Hot Springs Land, they continue to speculate on Shadow's true message. They consider that, as Shadow was interested in the dragon's folklore, the dragon could be a metaphor for the cult. As no one can come up with conclusive evidence, Alpha decides to go on the hot springs date with him. As Skel, Po, and Cid are presumed to be attending, the Seven Shadows decide to match three for three.

The Date And A Day Off

After Delta, Beta, and Zeta get chosen to go on the date, they only tolerate Skel and Po because Cid is expected to arrive soon. However, after Cid is confirmed to not be coming, the girls ditch Skel and Po. As Gamma and Epsilon ramble on about how they should have been chosen for the mission (date), Alpha tells them it’s okay as they seem to be having fun and that might have been Shadow’s plan all along.

During the date, Skel and Po try to peek into the women’s bath; however, the defensive mist sprays into their eyes until tears flow out. These tears then react with the hot spring, and magic energy flows out. After discovering that the hot spring reacts to tears, Eta and Delta promptly use Beta’s tears to experiment, and the hot springs react violently. A water dragon then forms and begins to terrorize the place. As the Seven Shadows enter into action, they quickly dispose of the dragon, and golden tears begin to rain down from the sky.

After defeating the dragon, the workers of Mitsugoshi promptly declare what happened a special event based on the dragon’s tears. Using this to fuel the enthusiasm of customers, they quickly turn it into a business opportunity by selling merchandise. As the day and episode round up, Alpha thanks Shadow for the day off, as it truly can be called that. The Seven Shadows and Shadow Garden went a day with minimal tension, as they enjoyed themselves without having to deal with the cult.

MORE: The Eminence In Shadow: Cid's Strongest Powers & Abilities