On the Sullivan's estate, a well-dressed butler quickly made his way through the massive courtyard. At first, he just speed-walked, but that motion eventually transformed into him lightly jogging. He ran past other butlers and maids littered throughout the courtyard as he bobbed and weaved, avoiding them all. Beads of sweat started to fall from his forehead, and for some reason, that only made him pick up speed. As he did, he noticed that his feet started to hurt. The shoes he wore, 400-dollar satin black suede dress shoes, were made to look nice, made for fashion, not running. The butler could feel his feet aching, screaming out in pain. It felt as if thousands of needles were puncturing his feet at the same time. Feeling such a thing would make someone stop altogether, but the pain from his feet made him run even faster. Eventually, the goal the butler wanted to reach was in view. His eyes landed on one of the many mansions in the courtyard, but his eyes focused on this mansion in particular. Out of all of them, this was the one he was headed to. With the finish line now in view and more sweat pouring from his face, the butler picked up his pace and ran faster than ever before.
Inside said mansion, there was another butler, but one that was familiar. He had his hair pulled back into a neat and tidy little ponytail as he wore snow-white gloves. Within those covered hands, he held a solid gold pocket watch. The current butler was Curtis, the same butler that drove and delivered Jake to the exam site. The man was checking his watch, then he snapped it shut and looked at a small group of maids that stood before him. As he placed his gold watch into his pocket, he started to give them all orders, but before he could finish giving them, they were rudely interrupted. The sweaty, feet-hurting butler that had been running had just crashed through the door, causing a scene and drawing all attention to himself. The moment he made it to his destination, the butler leaned over, placing his hands on his knees as he caught his breath. Everyone just looked at him, but Curtis, the main butler in this mansion, did more than just simply look at the sweaty butler. His nose scrunched up as his eyes narrowed, and his face frowned. Curtis looked the butler up and down, and the more he gazed, the more his stomach started to turn, and his temper started to boil. The butler's suit jacket and probably his dress were soaked in body sweat, his dress shoes were scuffed up, even his pants were slightly torn. To Curtis, this display was unacceptable. He took a massive step towards the sweaty butler. With them leaning over, he couldn't see their face, but he knew without having the full picture who he was looking at. As he walked towards them, he said the name "Popo," but when he said it, it was with heaps of malice spilling from his mouth.
The closer Curtis got, the angrier he became. Hearing his name called in such a way sent a shiver down the sweaty butler named Popo's spine. Curtis took another step. When his shoes touched the floor, it gave off an echoey clank sound. "How many times," Curtis said, his anger spilling over, "how many times have I told you, Popo this isn't the backwater shit stain you call a hometown! We're not wearing overalls, straw hats, and walking around barefoot on dirt roads. This isn't a fucking farm, Popo! How many times do I have to say this to you? YOU MUST LOOK DIGNIFIED AT ALL TIMES!" The head butler, Curtis, was now towering over the poor man. Only then did the sweaty butler lift his head. When he did, he saw the mixture of anger and disgust on Curtis's face. He immediately protested, "I'm sorry, sir, I really am," he cried. "It's just… it was an emergency," "really, an emergency, you say?" Curtis said, cocking his head to the side. Not once did the man blink as he looked down at the pathetic butler. The man shook his head, agreeing with what Curtis had just said. "Well then, what could be of such importance that you would allow yourself to look so unsightly?" The sweaty little butler didn't say another word. He instantly went into his pocket and pulled out a phone. He unlocked it, then turned it in the direction of the angry Curtis. Curtis looked at the screen as a video was playing. At first, he didn't know what was going on. Popo didn't explain a thing. Curtis could feel himself getting even angrier, but as he watched the video, Curtis noticed something, and it gave him pause. Then he lost his grip on his anger. His face unraveled from one of anger to one of shock and surprise. Curtis then snatched the phone right out of Popo's hands while still watching the video play. "Where did you find this, Curtis?" Asked without even looking at the sweaty butler, he responded, "It's everywhere. It hasn't been long, but it's spreading everywhere."
Curtis' eyes went wide as he continued watching. Then he broke his gaze and turned away from Popo, briskly walking in the opposite direction with the sweaty butler's phone still in his gloved hands. Curtis walked past the small group of maids that still didn't receive their orders as he made his way up a beautiful ornate staircase. After a moment, Curtis was opening a door to a master bedroom. It was a large space; the room itself seemed larger than most apartments.
As he entered the room, he could hear soft humming coming from the master bathroom. He made his way there. When he entered the bathroom, what he saw was Nolan Sullivan submerged comfortably in a bubble bath with his eyes closed as he softly hummed classical music to himself.
Curtis cleared his throat loud enough for anyone nearby to hear, then spoke, "Excuse me, sir." Nolan ceased his humming, yet he still had his eyes closed. He softly said back, "What is it now, Curtis? Can't you see that I'm quite busy right now?" Curtis bowed his head a bit. "Yes, I see that, sir, and I'm so sorry to bother you, but there is something you must see." "And what would that be?" Nolan said as he sighed. "It's about the boy." "What boy?" Curtis lifted his head as he looked at Nolan. "The little rat who he and his friend found a way to scurry their way into this estate." Hearing that, Nolan popped one single eye open as he looked at his butler standing in the doorway. "What about our little rat friend?" he said with a small smirk forming on his mouth.
Curtis proceeded to walk fully into the master bathroom towards the bathing Nolan. As he did, he got the phone ready and started to video from the beginning as he displayed it to his master. Nolan watched the video with a single eye still laying back relaxed. Then after watching for a while, both his eyes opened, and he sat up. Then he excitedly snatched the phone from Curtis as he watched up close.
The video that was playing on the phone was one of Jake during his fight with Heracles. The video showed him unsheathing Tsubaki in front of everyone then battling the large man. Jake's and Heracles's match was recorded. To be honest, the entire exam was recorded. Each exam was always recorded for review, but the contents of the recordings were never for public viewing, only for those that orchestrated the exam itself.
But this video in particular was different. It had been leaked everywhere online, allowing everyone to see the battle that had gone down not even an hour ago. Every second that passed, the smile on Nolan's face grew larger and larger, and he wasn't the only one watching. Like Popo said, it was everywhere. Every single person in Gardenia watched the leaked video, from the common folk to those in the slums, to those high up in the government and in the military.
The leaked footage was spreading like wildfire. It made its way to every single Sullivan, from Heathcliff to his children, to their own children, all watched and witnessed the display of power. Tsubaki had a power that no one had witnessed truly in over a hundred years. The video showed that what they saw on that night when Jake and the other slum kid were robbing them wasn't a fluke. It wasn't just a coincidence or dumb luck. Jake could unsheathe her. He was seen as worthy to wield Tsubaki in battle, something that not even Heathcliff himself, in all of his experience, could do.
The video had made it to everyone, even those who didn't want or need to see it. Still on the Sullivan estate, in another mansion, was a young woman in her room with black hair spread out like tentacles over her shoulders. Her room was a mess, but to the trained eye, one could tell that it wasn't always this way. They could tell the girl was packing, preparing to go somewhere. But she stopped suddenly, like everyone else throughout the entire country, to watch the leaked video.
The young woman kept replaying the video over and over again with a blank expression on her face. It wasn't until she read the title the video was given, only then did she feel any emotion. The video's title was "Sullivan Unsheathes Unsheathable Mystic Blade." Seeing the name Sullivan attached to Jake filled the girl with rage, and it started to bubble and build up. Then, without warning, it burst, and before she even knew it, the black-haired girl snapped her phone in two.