Episode 15

The Strongest Weakest Man (最強最弱の男) is the fifteenth episode of the The Eminence in Shadow anime adaptation.

Synopsis
Only the strongest warriors can advance in the prestigious Bushin Festival, but one contestant proves himself a feeble and mundane man with no talent. Why is he competing?

Summary
The Bunshin Festival is starting and strong warriors all over the world start gathering. Seeing them, Cid wants to also enter the tournament, to act weak and all, but defeat its opponents and shocks everyone how strong he is. Cid visits Gamma and asks her to help him with a disguise and enter the Bunshin Festival. Gamma wonders why, but Cid states he can't tell her. Gamma uses a special slime gel that will help him conceal his face and shape it how they want. She shows him pictures of how he wants to look and Cid notes he wants to look weak. Gamma then suggest Mundane Mann, a lazy Dark Knight with no skill. He was disowned by his noble family and died five years ago an unremarkable and unremarked death. Cid agrees and Gamma turns him into Mundane. Cid then changes his posture to look like his new character.

Annerose who managed to summon an ancient warrior at the Goddess' Trial sees Cid in his Mundane character. Looking at his cheap gear and sickly body, she states he is an amateur and warns him to not participate in the Bunshin Festival. Cid tells her to not judge a book by its cover and that he doesn't need her help. He walks away smiling that his disguise works. He is immediately stopped by Quinton, who tells him he needs to take her advice. Quinton explains he fought several times at Bunshin Festivals and each there were are weaklings like Cid, so its better if he just go home. Cid states that he is at least stronger than Quinton. That angers Quinton who picks up Cid and punches him into an alley. Cid still states he is weak, angering more Quinton. Cid notes there are several moves he can do right now and defeat Quinton, but he has no intention of fighting yet and leaves Quinton to beat him up.

Annerose eventually stops Quinton. She apologizes to Cid and while she could have stopped the fight at any moment, she decided to let Quinton beat him up so that Cid quits and don't get injured more at the festival. Cid leaves, which surprises Annerose that he isn't hurt. She introduces herself and asks Cid about his name and Cid reveals its Mundane Mann.

Cid meets with Skel Etal, who wants to make bets and win some money on the tournament. He explains that the tournament will starts with prelims and only the strongest will proceed to the main tournament. He also tells him who are the favorites. As Cid wants to show his powers only at the end, he wonders on how to defeat the stronger opponents without revealing his powers. As he leaves, he meets Rose, who explains she got friends with Alexia and Natsume Kafka. She also reveals that she is going to meet her father and he will be introducing her to her fiance Perv Asshat. Rose explains that she is a princess from a land of art and culture, but she disappointed and betrayed a lot of people when she decided to become a knight. When she was young she met a hero, and was inspired by him to pick up the sword. She still refuses to abandon her ideals and that may cause her to betray more people. She asks Cid if he will keep believing in her and Cid confirms it.

Cid and Skel are watching fight. Skel explains that he is gathering data, so that he can make better bets. He continues to explain how he can calculate the odds for better bets, but he will need some money to make the odds 100%. Cid ignores him, but Goldoh Kinmeki shows behind Skel, stating he finds that fascinating. Skel recognizes him and gets excited. Goldoh explains he also tabulates data as it helps him win. Next match is Gonzales Machombre versus Mundane Mann. Cid states he needs to take a dump and leaves. Goldoh decides to analyze the fight and explains you can get general idea of the fighter's strength before the fight. Gonzales has a glint in his eyes and arrogant smile, which means he is a tough fighter with a lot of experience. His battle powers is 1364. On the other hand Mundane Mann is astoundingly inept and Goldoh wonders how he made it to the third round. With his weak face, build and aura, his battle power is 33. Goldoh expects Gonzales to win in less than a second. Skel is impressed with the analyze. A second after the fight starts, Gonzales falls down. People assume that Gonzales tripped and fell and Mundane is announced as winner, which disappoints the crowd. Annerose however, saw how Mundane landed two quick punches on the chin. Goldoh acts like he also knew this could happen and Mundane to win. He tells Skel that you can win by betting on those with higher battle power or find the weak ones and bet on their opponents. Tomorrow in the fourth match, Mundane will be facing Goldoh. As Goldoh leaves, Cid returns and Skel asks him to give all of his money so that he can bet on Goldoh, but Cid refuses.

Early in the morning, Skel knocks on Cid's door and shows him the newspaper stating that Rose stabbed her fiance Perv Asshat and ran away.