His Butler, Assenting (その執事、承認, Sono Shitsuji, Shōnin) is the fifty-sixth episode of the Kuroshitsuji anime, and the tenth episode of Kuroshitsuji: Public School Arc.
Summary[]
Derrick's true face.
In the past, Edgar figured out that Derrick's "brilliant accomplishments" were nothing but lies. For years, Derrick had been bullying students, stealing their work, and passing it off as his own. With "whose light was stolen away," the poem's writer referred to Derrick's misdeeds; he stole other people's talents to make himself shine.
After Lawrence sent the bullied students back to their rooms, Derrick stopped the charade and revealed his true face. He explained to the P4 that, in his family, the heir has to become a prefect at Weston College. However, Derrick had never been interested in that or school in general. Thus, when his parents enrolled him in Weston College, Derrick decided to "relieve his stress" by bullying others. His father donated enough money to the school to "cover it" anyway.
Johann reveals himself.
Derrick's words enraged Herman, and he shouted at him that he would ensure that Johann would report his misdeeds to the headmaster. Unfazed, Derrick then called Johann to come out, as he had been inside the music room all along. Johann proceeded to punish Derrick, Hans, Robert, Wayne, and Richard with 2 Ys for "leaving [their] house at night without permission." The P4 could not comprehend why Johann would reprimand them so mildly and ignore their bullying too. Only when Edgar spotted the whisky bottle Johann hid within his ropes, did they understand that Johann was in cahoots with Derrick, and there was nothing they could do.
Shared murder, shared burden.
Johann told everyone to return to their rooms. On his way out, Derrick noted that he would be the next prefect of Scarlet Fox which made Herman boil over with anger and hit him over the head with his cricket bat. Everyone else was stunned for a moment before Derrick's friends tried to escape. Gregory quickly blocked the exit though, and Lawrence and Edgar took hold of Johann; this allowed Herman to smash the "sinners'" heads. The severity of his actions did not hit him until afterward. Edgar assured him that he knew how to handle the situation, and Gregory took the bat out of Herman's hand, reminding him that he was not the only prefect. Gregory, Lawrence, and Edgar then held the bat together to hit Derrick once more.
Sometime later, the P4 gathered in the chapel to discuss the situation and swear to protect Weston College until the headmaster returned from travelling the world in the fall.
Undertaker, amused about humans.
In the present, Ciel, Sebastian, and the prefects' fags are shocked by the P4's confession. When Lawrence adds they had no other choice and says that Ciel, at least, must surely understand them, Ciel cannot believe what he is saying; after all, they killed six people. For a moment, everything is silent. Then, Undertaker bursts into laughter and remarks that "human beings are supremely tragic, supremely absurd, and supremely delightful." Sebastian, for once, even agrees with him on that.
Lawrence then continues that they could have never allowed Weston College's reputation to be tarnished by Derrick and his companions; after all, "the history of Weston College is the history of England." When Ciel hears this, he chooses not to argue, as he knows it would not work because they were taught to uphold tradition without another thought for years. Instead, he simply assures the P4 that, while he cannot without the truth from his employer, he will ensure that they will be given a punishment that takes their circumstances into account.
Undertaker confirms that even the dead can evolve.
Now done with the P4, Ciel turns to Undertaker and asks him what he is after. Undertaker decides to humor him because he paid him with laughter after all. Ciel notes that Derrick, unlike the Bizarre Dolls on the Campania, was conscious for a short while which means the Bizarre Dolls must have evolved. Undertaker is happy that Ciel said that and confirms that even the dead can evolve as long as they have the episodes to do it. Sebastian remembers that, previously, Undertaker attached random sequences, false memories, to the corpses' Cinematic Record to turn them into Bizarre Dolls. Undertaker clarifies that he no longer does that; instead, the Bizarre Dolls are moving because of their yearning for the future.
Extracting memories of yearning.
When a human dies, they replay their life—and yearn for the future they thought they would have. These fragmented yearnings are episodes as well, and Undertaker worked to extract them and use them to prolong a person's Cinematic Record and turn them into a more functional Bizarre Doll, one that might even become indistinguishable from a human one day. The success rate of this has been low so far though. Ciel cannot fathom why Undertaker would even want to resurrect the dead in the first place, and Undertaker tells him that he wants to see what comes after the fated end. Sebastian disagrees as he thinks that death is beautiful because it is a definite end.
Ciel saves Joanne.
Undertaker ends the conversation here and sets out to leave. On Ciel's order, Sebastian hurries to capture Undertaker but is blocked by Johann who was turned into a Bizarre Doll too; he is even Undertaker's current "masterpiece" because he contained a large quantity of usable episodes. Undertaker then calls the resurrected corpses of Derrick's friends which come out of the ground. Edward grabs the injured Herman and urges everyone to escape. Joanne, however, cannot move; he is frozen in fear and even wet his pants. When a Bizarre Doll comes too close to him, Ciel saves him. Undertaker remarks that Ciel is different from his predecessors which fascinates him.
Sebastian goes to save Ciel, just as predicted.
Sebastian then reminds Undertaker that Johann cannot stop him. Undertaker reassures him that he is not taking him lightly; they simply have different goals. His words make Sebastian fear that Undertaker wants to kidnap Ciel, and he plays out a scenario in his head: If he fights off Johann and goes after Undertaker, Undertaker will have enough time to escape and the opportunity to go and grab Ciel. Because Ciel's life is Sebastian's priority, he ultimately goes against Ciel's order and goes to protect his master's life after getting rid of Johann. Undertaker anticipated that Sebastian would do this though and goes the other way from the start. He tells Sebastian to keep protecting Ciel like that before he leaves.
Protecting Ciel's life is Sebastian's priority.
Ciel is unhappy that Sebastian let Undertaker escape when he told him to catch him. Sebastian then explains himself while holding off a Bizarre Doll and destroying his head. Joanne faints when he sees that, and Sebastian seizes this opportunity with everyone either gone or unconscious to get rid of the other Bizarre Dolls too.
Edward worries he could have turned into the P4.
When Sebastian is done, Ciel asks himself how he can explain everything to Queen Victoria. Sebastian suggests to tell her the truth. A moment later, Edward returns to the garden with his sword. He admits that he fears that he could have become like the P4, someone who mistakes the crime of murder for justice, if not for today. Ciel consoles him that he is still in his right mind if that thought frightens him.
Not long afterward, Ciel told everything to the Queen. She decided that the P4 would not be thrown into prison but merely be expelled instead. The deaths of Derrick and his friends were covered up as a boating accident, and everyone who knew the truth was ordered to keep quiet. Life at Weston College remained unchanging—at least on the surface. Cheslock, Edward, Clayton, and a Scarlet Fox student succeed Gregory, Herman, Lawrence, and Edgar as dormitory prefects; however, Edward, Cheslock, and Clayton do not feel any joy when they finally step on the lawn.
Ciel informs the Queen.
When Ciel finishes his tale to Victoria, she tells him that she would never doubt his words, no matter how outlandish they might sound. Ciel points out that the technology to reanimate the dead might eventually become a threat to England and promises to keep his eyes on the matter. Afterward, Ciel and Sebastian drive to Phantomhive Manor. On the drive, Sebastian says that McMillan sent him a letter as he had promised, but Ciel tells him to throw it away because he has no intentions of returning to "that stuffy miniature garden."
"A lawn is simply a lawn."
Upon their arrival at Phantomhive Manor, Ciel and Sebastian are greeted by Snake, Finnian, Baldroy, Tanaka, Mey-Rin—and many, many sheep that have escaped from Old Man Sam's farm. When Ciel sees Finnian and Snake trying to catch a sheep on the lawn, he chuckles and remarks that, here, "a lawn is simply a lawn." He then orders Sebastian to tidy up and prepare his afternoon tea.
Later, in the kitchen, Sebastian takes out McMillan's letter and notes how well the photograph from the victory procession turned out before he crumbles the paper and uses it to ignite the oven so that he can bake a cake.
The Queen, Unsettling.
At Buckingham Palace, Queen Victoria converses with John Brown about the Bizarre Dolls. John promises her that he will protect her from these monsters in Prince Albert's stead. However, while Victoria is scared of the Bizarre Dolls, she cannot help but wonder what wonderful allies they could be.
Characters in Order of Appearance[]
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