Don't Call Me Master, Call Me Director

Instead of the boring and dull studies at school, Sakura preferred to follow her brother around the film set, busy with various tasks.

It was a shame, though, that as the filming entered its final stages, Shinji sent Sakura and several other students back to school to focus on their studies.

To be honest, Sakura didn't have much screen time in the movie. Shinji was filming the Fate route, not the Heaven's Feel route, so Sakura's role was probably less than a tenth of that of the second female lead, Tohsaka Rin.

Sakura's role on set was mostly as Shinji's assistant, helping her brother with various trivial matters.

Even though it was all tedious work, Sakura simply loved the atmosphere and environment of the film set more.

Because there was the eccentric and funny blue-tight-wearing pervert, the understanding Rider sister, Saber who liked her food, and... her idol, her brother Matou Shinji.

The thought alone made Sakura want to abandon her textbooks and rush back to the set.

Unfortunately, it was just a thought. Shinji would absolutely not agree to Sakura doing that. While Shinji always doted on Sakura, he never allowed her to indulge her whims when it came to her studies.

What scene is my brother filming now? Is it with Miss Artoria?

This thought couldn't help but pop into Matou Sakura's mind.

Instantly, the white lines on the sports field she was staring at seemed to change. The abstract lines gradually took the form of a person: somewhat messy medium-length hair, a gentle face, deep eyes, and an ever-confident expression...

"Brother..."

Sakura bit down on her pen, imagining Shinji holding a director's megaphone and commanding the set with authority.

He just returned from abroad not long ago, and he immediately threw himself into so much work. Why can't my brother stay by my side?

"Classmate Matou..." Fujimura Taiga quickly noticed Sakura's distraction. "Sakura!"

The girl was lost in her fantasy and didn't hear Taiga's voice at all.

Slap.

After calling her name several times without a response, Taiga walked over and gently tapped Sakura's head with a book.

"Uh... Teacher Fujimura..."

Matou Sakura finally snapped back to reality, looking at Fujimura Taiga in a daze.

"Sakura..."

Sakura's pleading eyes, like those of a small animal, made Taiga feel a bit helpless. She sighed and said, "Teacher knows you care about Shinji's movie, but Teacher still hopes you can listen carefully in class. Otherwise, wouldn't Shinji's insistence on you going to school be meaningless?"

Sakura's lips moved a couple of times, and she lowered her head helplessly, "I'm very sorry."

Taiga didn't press Sakura further. She spread her hands, nodding repeatedly, and said to herself, "Teacher understands, your dear brother's movie... Let alone you, Teacher is also very excited and thrilled! I can't wait for the movie to be released!"

"Because... this is the first movie Teacher has ever acted in~~"

Taiga playfully lifted one leg and winked at the entire class.

The class, feeling awkward, instantly fell into a strange silence.

... She's already 25, a grown woman, and she's still trying to act like a cute young girl. ...

"...Was it a cameo in a tiger costume?"

No one knew which brave soul it was, but in the dead silence of the classroom, someone uttered these words.

"Who just said tiger! Stand up right now, Teacher is going to give you a super-doubled test package!!"

Taiga waved her textbook, letting out a roar like a tiger.

"Sorry, sorry, Teacher Tiger~"

"I told you not to call me Tiger!" Taiga returned to the podium, slapped the desk, and said, "How about this? When Sakura's brother's movie is released, we'll all go watch it together!"

"However, you'll have to pay for your own movie tickets~"

Taiga winked playfully once more.

"What the heck!"

"Teacher, you're treating us!"

"Yeah, yeah. To celebrate Teacher's debut in acting, Teacher is treating us!"

"Don't even think about it, Teacher's salary isn't that high!"

Taiga slammed the desk.

"Hahaha~"

For a moment, the classroom was filled with a cheerful atmosphere.

"Sigh, Brother..."

Sakura sighed helplessly. Ignoring the noisy classroom, she once again turned her gaze to the window, waiting for class to end.

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While Sakura had to endure the "torment" of school, the FSN film crew in the studio was busily shooting the final scenes.

After months of work, the FSN filming was nearing its end. In the past few days, Shinji had wrapped up most of the scenes, including the battle at Ryuudou Temple, with only the final scene of Artoria's peaceful passing left.

To be fair, Artoria, despite the Knight of Knights' acting still being very green, with Rin's advice, she had read a lot of romance novels and manga, and finally found a bit of girlishness.

Although her acting skills were far from the level of those acting masters, it was barely passable for such a commercial film.

Even because the Knight of Knights was serious enough, she could be said to be the most stable performer in the entire crew during filming, except for Gilgamesh.

It couldn't be helped, Gilgamesh's role was too simple, even if he just stood there and filmed himself, the footage could still be used — of course, that's assuming he wouldn't block the camera with the Gate of Babylon.

As the filming of FSN gradually came to an end, Shinji began to carefully inspect the crew members.

Although the success or failure of the film FSN was unknown, Shinji, who had already reached agreements with multiple Mage Families, would definitely proceed with the next project, the only question being which film to shoot.

Through this filming, Shinji had fully understood the benefits of using Heroic Spirits as actors, and the next film should continue to adopt this model.

If this plan were to continue, the filming location would inevitably be limited to Fuyuki City — because of the Holy Grail and Ley Lines, Heroic Spirits would consume a large amount of magic if they left Fuyuki City.

Thus, establishing a relatively stable film creation team in Fuyuki City was imperative.

That being said, not everyone could stay in Shinji's team.

Those with mediocre abilities or those who were not proactive in their work were not within Shinji's consideration.

Shinji already had a rough draft of the specific personnel list, and he would discuss it in detail with the individuals involved after the filming concluded.

Currently, the crew was filming the scene where Bedivere bids farewell to Artoria, which was the last scene to be shot. Everyone was excitedly preparing.

The actor playing Bedivere was, of course, not Bedivere himself. Shinji, who had already occupied all seven Servant slots, could no longer summon new Servants.

Moreover, Bedivere only had a few scenes in FSN, so summoning a new Servant was simply too extravagant.

Shinji did not find a foreign actor for a cameo; instead, he had Yan Qing disguise himself as Bedivere based on Artoria's description.

This situation was quite reminiscent of the 2006 TV anime version of FSN, where Ayako Kawasumi pulled Mamiko Noto, who was wandering the hallway, to voice Little Bedi.

Don't underestimate Brother Xiao Yi, who was usually a transparent figure on set; the work he did was on par with a model worker. Besides guest starring as Caster Medea, the doorman, and Little Bedi, he would also disguise himself for cameos when the occasional extra was needed in a shot.

Although Brother Xiao Yi didn't even show his face in the FSN movie, he appeared everywhere throughout the entire film.

Shinji suddenly felt that changing his plan midway and summoning Yan Qing might have been the most correct decision he made during the filming of this movie.

On set, Yan Qing, disguised as Bedivere, was unaware of his Master's thoughts. He was looking at Artoria, who was lying under a tree, with a face full of sorrow.

At this moment, the faint halo around Artoria gradually dissipated, signifying that the last protective power was disappearing.

"I'm sorry... Bedivere. This slumber... might be a little longer..."

With a gentle and relieved smile, Artoria quietly closed her eyes.

The lights, representing the morning sun, slowly moved onto Artoria, and a gentle breeze rustled the prop forest.

Yan Qing stood there, quietly watching the King's figure, projecting his emotions onto that knight.

This should be what that knight had always longed for.

Peaceful sleep.

The King he served, who had fought his entire life, could finally find peace at the end.

So... he was very happy.

The breeze blew across the knight's cheek. Proudly protecting the King, he smiled from the bottom of his heart.

The war was finally over.

"Hey, are you watching, King Arthur—"

Looking at the King who had fallen asleep, the knight whispered.

"—the continuation of the dream..."

"Cut!" Shinji stood up from behind the camera and announced loudly, "FSN filming is completely finished!"

"That's great!"

"It's over! Hooray!"

"Haha! We did it!!"

Upon hearing Shinji's words, everyone in the crew cheered.

Artoria got up, tidied her hair, and was the first to run to Shinji to congratulate him.

"Master, I did it."

"Ah, thank you, Artoria. You are indeed the best Servant!"

Shinji directly opened his arms and hugged Artoria, even proactively rubbing his face against hers.

"Master?"

Artoria raised an eyebrow.

Shinji quickly let go of Artoria and began hugging the other crew members one by one. Everyone also smiled and hugged Shinji in celebration.

Everyone was happy. Being able to complete a film was a sense of pride that was difficult to express in words.

After a period of revelry, the crew members began to pack up the props on set. They said their goodbyes to each other and left one by one.

The once lively film set gradually grew quiet.

Strictly speaking, there should have been a wrap party after filming concluded, but since the main student actors weren't around, Shinji didn't hold one.

However, he did assure the crew that there would be a grand celebration banquet once the movie was released.

After seeing off the last few crew members, Shinji specifically went to check the temporary storage. While ensuring all the filming equipment was undamaged, he focused on inventorying the raw footage.

He was shocked to discover that he had shot nearly 50 hours of footage over several months.

Even though more than half of it consisted of NG takes, it didn't mean the footage was useless; it could still be used for DVD deleted scenes and behind-the-scenes footage in the future.

"Brother, what are you doing?"

Sakura, who had rushed to the set as quickly as possible after school, found Shinji in the storage room with the help of others.

"Oh, Sakura. I was just worrying about something."

Seeing his sister's curious gaze, Shinji sighed helplessly.

"Next, I have to cut about 120 to 150 minutes of film from nearly 3000 minutes of raw footage. Just thinking about it gives me a headache."

"Is that so..." Sakura looked up at him, saying with a hint of disappointment, "Does that mean you'll be very busy from now on?"

"Yeah, post-production isn't just editing; there's also sound design, background music, visual effects... Anyway, let's not talk about that."

Shinji shook his head, pushing those bothersome thoughts aside.

"Right, did you come here for something?"

"Um..."

Sakura opened her mouth, wanting to say something but stopping herself.

Finally, she flashed Shinji a perfect, girlish smile.

"It's nothing. Good luck, brother."

Sakura ultimately held back from asking Shinji to stay, instead offering him her best wishes.