Don't Call Me Master, Call Me Director

When Shinji and Rin were studying basic Magecraft under him, Tokiomi Tohsaka even had the illusion that he had gained another son.

However, compared to Rin, who was exceptionally talented and diligently studied, Shinji's aptitude for Magecraft was higher, but his attitude towards studying Magecraft was half-hearted and very casual. Once Shinji roughly grasped a piece of Magecraft, he would refuse to refine it further.

In Tokiomi Tohsaka's eyes, if Rin was the steady and diligent eldest daughter and heir of the family, then Shinji was definitely the spoiled youngest son who didn't do his job properly.

"Sigh."

In the reception room, Tokiomi Tohsaka let out a long sigh.

"If Master Shinji were willing to put in the effort in the field of Magecraft, his achievements could very well surpass everyone of his generation and make him a leading figure in the Japanese Magecraft world. It's truly a pity."

Facing his old friend Risei Kotomine, Tokiomi Tohsaka spoke his mind without reservation.

"The gradually declining Matou Family has finally produced a Genius Mage, and I originally thought that Shinji and Rin could have an arranged marriage, making the Matou Family and the Tohsaka family even closer."

Speaking of this, Tokiomi's expression darkened.

"I never expected that Master Shinji, at such a young age, would be indulging in beauty and desire. He is definitely not a man one can entrust their daughter's life to!"

Hearing Tokiomi mention the marriage between Rin and Shinji, Risei Kotomine, who was sitting beside him, also had an unpleasant look on his face.

Shinji's "record" at the Clock Tower was too formidable, to the point that both of them had heard about it.

Although there were elements of exaggeration and rumor-mongering, it was definitely a fact that Shinji maintained inappropriate "parallel jogging" relationships with multiple women at the Clock Tower.

"I also had the idea of entrusting Karen to Shinji before, but..."

Risei and Tokiomi exchanged glances, seeing the helplessness in each other's eyes.

Sigh, if only that brat could restrain himself when it comes to women.

Risei Kotomine gloomily took a sip of his strong tea.

"Forget it, we can't force things between the younger generation," Tokiomi consoled himself. "Rin is excellent enough anyway, and I believe the Tohsaka family will surely flourish under her in the future."

Thinking of his excellent daughter, a faint smile appeared on Tokiomi's calm face.

"Don't worry, Shinji will help her," Risei teased. "That kid is a bit of a scoundrel, but he's very sentimental. Given his friendship with Rin, he'll definitely help."

Meanwhile.

"Achoo!"

Shinji, who was leaving the Tohsaka residence, suddenly sneezed loudly.

"Damn, which beautiful woman is talking about me behind my back?"

Shinji rubbed his nose with his finger and muttered under his breath.

Shinji, who had already left, naturally did not hear the evaluation of him by the two elders. If he had heard it, he would definitely have scoffed.

Because the matter of [marrying Tohsaka Rin] was never an option in Master Shinji's mind.

Rin's personality was too lively and too independent, completely not to Shinji's taste. Compared to Rin, a woman who might become a pirate leader, Shinji preferred his wife to be of the Yamato Nadeshiko type.

In terms of appearance value, Tohsaka Rin was undoubtedly top-notch. If not for the close relationship between the Matou Family and the Tohsaka family, Shinji might have actually pursued Rin.

However, Rin's status as the future head of the Tohsaka family made the option of "pursue and then break up" disappear for her.

Therefore, it was better to remain friends.

No matter how beautiful Tohsaka Rin was, she wasn't beautiful enough to make Second Master give up a whole forest for just one tree.

It had to be said that no matter which parallel world, Tokiomi Tohsaka always thought from his own perspective, wishfully.

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The next evening, the FSN Film Crew gathered punctually at the entrance of the Fuyuki City cinema.

"I still can't believe a city the size of Fuyuki City only has one cinema?!"

At the cinema entrance, Shinji, who was waiting for the others to arrive, complained softly to Shirou.

"Isn't that normal? It's not Tokyo, why would they need so many cinemas?"

Shirou, who had long accepted that Japan had less than 400 cinemas, found Shinji's reaction problematic instead.

"Nothing to talk about with you."

Shinji rolled his eyes. For Second Master, who had 4 cinemas near his house in his previous life, he felt he had no common ground with Shirou on this matter.

"Shinji."

Just then, Kariya walked over.

He grabbed Shinji's shoulder and said, "The day before yesterday, I contacted the Jidai Group's Flora Family..."

Shinji's heart immediately tensed, and he asked nervously, "They didn't agree to cooperate, did they?"

"They didn't agree directly..."

"That's good! Shirou, let's go over there, Rin and the others are here."

Shinji forcibly interrupted Kariya and then pulled Shirou towards the Tohsaka family group, leaving Kariya behind.

"What's his problem? I haven't even mentioned that the Flora Family is already in contact with the El-Melloi Family."

Although Kariya was a bit simple, he wasn't stupid. Shinji's attitude towards the Flora Family was clearly problematic.

"Just make sure Master Shinji doesn't do anything to offend the Flora Family. They're way more powerful than our Matou Family."

Looking at Shinji in the distance, Kariya rubbed his temples, a headache forming.

Shinji, on the other side, didn't notice his uncle's troubled expression. Once most of the film crew had arrived, Shinji gathered everyone for a commemorative photo in front of the cinema.

A premiere was out of the question, of course. Bandai's plan for distributing FSN was too conservative; they wouldn't spend money on something like that.

Even this preview screening in Fuyuki City was a special addition Shinji had requested from Bandai.

So, to have something to commemorate the occasion, Shinji had to organize people to take a commemorative photo himself.

"How shabby," Gilgamesh said with slight dissatisfaction. "Why are the film crew and the regular audience mixed together?"

"It's good enough. This was a last-minute addition anyway," Shinji whispered by way of comfort. "When we're successful later, I'll arrange a special private screening just for you and Enkidu…"

"Hmm…"

Gilgamesh frowned, his flushed face showing a complex mix of emotions. His stance seemed to waver between Enkidu seeing him make a fool of himself and showing off his big-screen debut to a friend.

"Boring!"

Gilgamesh snorted heavily through his nose and then quickened his pace into the screening hall.

Shinji, left behind, wore a smile like a sly fox.

Just then, Artoria sidled up.

"Hey, Master. For a private screening, will there be any special snacks?"

Master Shinji looked at Artoria's eager expression, then at the extra-large bucket of popcorn in her hand (already one-third empty), and for a moment, he didn't know what to say.

Britain must have had it tough, managing to support Artoria for so many years without going bankrupt from her eating habits.

Shinji thought silently to himself.

Chapter 21: You All Possess Unique Skills

As he walked into the theater, Shinji couldn't help but lament the backwardness of Japanese cinema equipment once again.

This only cinema in Fuyuki City had just five halls, four of which could only accommodate less than 100 people.

The hall showing FSN was the largest in the entire cinema, but it only had about 300 seats.

To avoid disturbing the moviegoers, Shinji arranged the seats for the film crew and his invited guests towards the back of the hall. This way, the first few rows were filled with audience members who had won the preview screening lottery.

The preview screening in Fuyuki City was very basic. Besides the film crew and fans, there were only a few staff members arranged by Bandai to collect audience reactions.

At the Tokyo preview screening, Bandai had also invited a few entertainment newspaper reporters. However, most of these reporters came from small to medium-sized and local media outlets. Major newspapers like Kinema Junpo or Mainichi Shimbun wouldn't attend a preview screening for an unknown film.

As for film critics, given the precedent of the Toho preview screening and the fact that critics generally disliked tokusatsu films, Bandai had simply given up on inviting them for public relations.

In fact, even if Bandai had invited them, the critics probably wouldn't have been too willing to come. Bandai's promotional strategy for FSN was relatively conservative, and the fees they offered couldn't attract those greedy individuals.

Shinji couldn't have asked for anything better. Regardless, those aloof old guys didn't like FSN anyway, so they shouldn't come and suffer through his movie.

Compared to these old fogeys who loved to nitpick, Shinji was more concerned about the reactions of the audience present.

Excluding the film crew and invited guests, the Fuyuki City preview had invited nearly 230 ordinary moviegoers, aged between 15 and 45, with the proportion decreasing as age increased.

The age distribution of the audience at other preview screenings was similar.

The age composition of the audience was based on Shinji's observations of movie consumers in his previous life, covering almost the entire potential fan age range for FSN.

"It's starting in five minutes."

Sitting in his seat, Shinji shifted his body. He glanced back at the Heroic Spirits of his film crew and warned them not to act up during the screening.

"You guys, don't cause any trouble in the theater! Otherwise, I'll feed you Mapo Tofu with my Command Spells when we get back!"

Thanks to Kirei Kotomine's persistent "promotion," Mapo Tofu had become the most disliked food among the Heroic Spirits, without a doubt.

"Hey, hey, Master," Cú Chulainn immediately replied. "You know me, I only cause trouble when I'm drinking. Isn't this just cola?"

[What's the point of causing trouble if there's no prerequisite?]

Medusa pushed up her glasses and patted the book on her lap. "Master, you know me, I just like reading."

[It's so dark during the movie, what the hell can you read!]

"Master, you know me, I don't usually cause trouble unless the guy in gold and the guy in blue can't help themselves."

This was Red A, who was eager to fight.

Yan Qing crossed his legs and said innocently, "Master, you know me, I would absolutely never cause trouble. Only others will cause trouble."

[Are you planning to disguise yourself as someone else to cause trouble?]

Shinji's mouth twitched violently.

"Hmph~"

"■■…"

Gilgamesh and Berserker said nothing, only giving Shinji a look.

The former disdained to speak, while the latter, squatting in the aisle, was unable to speak.

"Master, you know me… I… muffled… only like… muffled…"

Watching Artoria, who didn't forget to eat popcorn even while talking, Shinji waved his hands repeatedly. "Alright, alright, you keep eating."

"Seriously... everyone has their own unique skills. Are these people really here to watch a movie?"

Turning around, Shinji rubbed his temples in distress. He happened to see Touko on his left, typing an email on her phone.

"Hm? Miss Aozaki is still working? How diligent."

"No, I'm chatting with an acquaintance," Touko said, snapping her flip phone shut with a snap and smiling at Shinji. "I recommended this movie to them."

"Well, thank you very much, Miss Aozaki."

Touko's actions formed a stark contrast with the troublesome Heroic Spirits behind her, which moved Shinji greatly.

Touko curled her lips and joked, "Rather than verbal praise, I'd prefer a raise."

"Ah, that's unlikely. I'm basically working for free right now, and my food, clothing, and daily expenses all rely on the Pocket Money the Matou Family gives me," Shinji said with a pained expression. "Don't tell me you just finished a big order?"

"But I also incurred quite a few costs, and many materials needed to be repurchased."

"It's fine, you can factor those material costs into the movie production expenses later," Shinji said, blinking slyly.

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FSN Tokyo Premiere.

Udagawa Nao, as a Bandai observer, was dispersed among the moviegoers with over a dozen of her colleagues.

Once the movie started, they would use pens to record the Audience's reactions during the screening.

Actually, Udagawa Nao, a middle manager, didn't need to personally handle this kind of task. However, FSN was the first major project after she transferred to the film and television department, and it was one she had personally spearheaded.

Udagawa Nao herself wasn't sure if this movie, which the company had spent a large sum to acquire, would be successful. Perhaps only by witnessing the fans' reactions firsthand could she calm down a little.

"Um... excuse me."

Two young Girls stood beside Udagawa Nao. One had long red hair, while the other had short black hair.