Is This What You Learned Magic For?
"So, Master, you're deliberately trying to freeload off me today?"
Shinji and said softly, "Ahem, I was just worried that Salia wouldn't accept bank card payments~"
"..."*2
Seeing two identical faces still maintaining their angry expressions, Shinji could only scratch his head and chuckle foolishly, "Haha~ What's wrong with living off a woman? It's easy to digest."
"..."*2
Shinji raised his knife and fork and gave a France military salute.
"Okay, I accept the punishment! You can do whatever you want with me."
"As punishment for lying to us, you'd better keep cutting your steak!"
"Yes, yes, yes. My two princes."
"Enough talk, cut your steak." Artoria snorted. "Come, Mordred, let's drink."
"Good luck, Master!"
This time, Mordred didn't hesitate; she made a Shinji face at Shinji.
Then, Artoria and Mordred clinked glasses and each took a small sip.
"Ah~ it's so great that someone offered to cut the steak for me."
Mordred waved the steak on her fork at Shinji in a showy manner.
[A petty person has gotten their way!]
The word immediately popped into Shinji's mind.
[Tch, don't get cocky. One day, you little brat, you'll be kneeling before me singing "Conquer," and you'll be stuttering and stammering!]
Despite setting himself a grand goal, Shinji hasn't even managed to win over the big one (Artoria), so how could he be in the mood to deal with the small one (Mordred)?
So, under pressure from Artoria, Shinji could only silently lower his head and start cutting steaks for them.
As for why it was them, and not Mordred...
Naive! Did you think the King of Knights only ordered one steak?
Shinji figured he'd spend most of his time tonight cutting steak for his supper.
[Tsk, man proposes, God disposes.]
Listening to Artoria and Mordred chatting and laughing while he was stuck working as a food processor, the Second Master felt a little resentful.
After seeing Mordred deliberately squeeze in, Shinji had already planned to have Artoria treat him to this meal, so that he could have the opportunity to treat her alone again in the future.
Although Shinji wouldn't mind giving this "father and son" pair a hug on both sides, their current level of affection for each other is far from reaching that point!
As a result of Mordred's disruption, his favorability towards Artoria dropped by one level!
However, the Second Master wasn't too sad. For him, conquering (and sleeping with) Artoria was just a diversion in his current aimless emotional life.
After all, if he could actually win over this proud Britain beauty, the Second Master would feel a great sense of accomplishment.
It's okay if we didn't win; we didn't lose anything anyway.
Only...
"Master is really going too far! I tried my best!"
"Yeah, yeah, Master always likes to give us all sorts of weird and wonderful filming assignments!"
"Master, really! You look down on me just because I'm a woman! That's what you must be thinking, Master!"
"Father, you're not a woman! You're Father! Yes, Father!"
"Yes, well said!! Mordred, I'll reward you with a steak!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty! I knew you were the best to me! Hahahaha!"
Are these two girls doing this on purpose? They're really pushing their luck!
Shinji listened to the two Servants belittling him without regard for others, his smile gradually froze.
But gradually, Shinji sensed that something was wrong.
Artoria and Mordred haven't stopped drinking since they started.
Could it be...?
[Artoria's alcohol tolerance is low, but what about Mordred's?]
Shinji's expression gradually changed as he watched the two Britain knights down glass after glass of wine.
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One hour later.
"Sir, we're closing up shop, you see..."
The restaurant waitress asked Shinji smile.
Shinji's eyebrows twitched with the rhythm of flamenco as he looked at the father and son who were fast asleep on the table.
"I knew it! Alcohol really is no good!"
Chapter 249 Is this what you're going to do by learning Magecraft?
The next morning, Shinji woke up to a stunning sight— King Arthur blushing and covering his face.
"Master, I am truly sorry this time."
With a look of utter disbelief, Artoria lowered her head and apologized to Shinji.
I was really too reckless yesterday.
Shinji grinned slightly, a hint of embarrassment in his eyes. "It's alright, I guess now I know how you guys see me."
I'm so sorry.
Artoria lowered her head even further. If it weren't for the fact that her chest was so disappointing, Shinji would definitely have seen her applying face wash to herself.
For Artoria, it wouldn't be a big deal to speak ill of Shinji to his face; she could just consider it a chivalrous act of speaking out.
However, if you get drunk and complain about others, it raises suspicions of talking badly about them behind their backs.
What's worse, someone overheard these bad words.
Shinji himself didn't really have any objections; after all, he'd been getting roasted by these Servants for quite some time now.
If it were Gilgamesh and his gang of bastards, they would only say things that are even more outrageous.
Compared to the bad things said, the only thing Shinji found somewhat troublesome last night was dealing with the two female knights after they got drunk.
He first escorted the drunken Artoria and her son into a taxi under the watchful eyes of the waitress.
Then, despite the pressure of the taxi driver's gaze, he managed to get the two people, who were sleeping like logs, out of the car.
Fortunately, the hotel staff were already used to this kind of scene.
They not only didn't look down on Shinji, but also offered to help get Artoria and Mordred to their rooms and beds, saving Shinji a lot of effort.
Unfortunately, Shinji didn't get to "have a good time" with the two beautiful blondes as they had imagined.
It wasn't that Shinji wanted to be a virtuous gentleman who was worse than an animal; he was just afraid that if Artoria woke up during the process, she would have enough strength to strangle him to death on the spot (in bed).
Of course, Shinji's efforts throughout the night weren't without reward; his phone now contained a large collection of photos of Artoria and Mordred, father and son, "loving each other" in bed.
However, Shinji wouldn't tell Artoria about these things; he planned to sell the photos to Mordred for a high price.
Just as Type-Moon used to trick its own voice actors and illustrators into spending money on gacha pulls to recoup their wages, Shinji now uses photos to entice Mordred to hand over her paycheck.
They're all birds of a feather.
Cough!!
"Well, I really enjoyed my late-night snack last night, so let's not worry about those little things."
Shinji feigned magnanimity and said, "So? Do you need me to take you back to the set?"
"No need..." Artoria said, blushing, "I won't feel the effects of the alcohol after I wake up."
"The advantages of being a Servant... I'm really envious."
This wasn't just polite talk; Shinji genuinely envied the Heroic Spirit's constitution. In his limited experience of getting drunk, he always felt terrible the day afterward.
"Speaking of which..."
Artoria, as if struck by a thought, looked up at Shinji.
"I know. Last night, you, Mordred, and I were just having a nice late-night snack together."
Shinji guessed that Artoria didn't want her embarrassing moment to spread within the community, so he interrupted her.
"I don't remember anything else, is that alright?"
"All..."
Artoria hesitated for a moment.
"What's wrong?"
"No, there's nothing there!"
Artoria stood up awkwardly and quickly walked out of the room.
"That's settled then, I'll take my leave now, Master!"
Shinji frowned in confusion as he watched Artoria leave.
Did she say anything to me yesterday other than insults? Or did I miss something?
Mordred, unwilling to give up, poked Shinji's back with her finger.
"Ah, ah, Master, it's all your fault that you scared Father away."
"She's not that timid! Don't talk nonsense."
Seeing Mordred's bared teeth and fierce yet adorable face, Shinji suddenly gave a wicked smile and took out his phone.
"Hey, Mordred."
"What?"
"Want to see some photos? I have some nice ones here."
Speaking like a DVD vendor, Shinji opened his phone and began promoting his DVDs to Mordred.
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The premiere of "Super Eight" was a great success. Both industry professionals and moviegoers who just wanted to see the film praised its special effects.
Since the film hasn't been officially released in China yet, most moviegoers can only satisfy their curiosity by listening to the boasts of a small number of "lucky" people who saw the preview screenings.
But outside of mainland China, the box office reception of "Super Eight" can't be described as explosive; at the very least, it's characterized by long queues.
Especially the IMAX, officially designated as the best viewing screen, is almost always sold out, with tickets extremely difficult to obtain.
Despite limitations in the number of screenings and seating capacity, the IMAX box office wasn't particularly impressive. However, the fact that more than half of the seats in every IMAX theater in Fuyuki City were occupied by out-of-towners speaks volumes about just how popular the IMAX version of <Super Eight> truly was.
These tourists came all from cities that don't have IMAX theaters, specifically to Fuyuki City, just to experience firsthand how amazing the IMAX special effects really are.
Best Actress, all the viewers said it was worth the trip and sincerely hoped that their own cities could install an IMAX screen as soon as possible.
People generally praised Shinji's previous works, Fate/stay night and Fate/Zero, for their special effects, but for Super Eight, they could only describe it as stunning.
It's not that the special effects in <Super Eight> are really that much better than the two Fate movies, but disaster movies always have an advantage over other special effects films in terms of the shock and impact they deliver.
Although Super Eight isn't a proper disaster movie, the scenes of monsters destroying the city are practically indistinguishable from those in a disaster film.
Many media outlets have described "Super Eight" as "the most shocking movie in history," and no one has disagreed with that assessment.
Meanwhile, 3D without glasses made the front page of newspapers at the same time as the special effects of "Super Eight".
When commenting on Super Eight, all newspapers and media outlets made sure to mention the 3D technology, calling it a revolutionary technology.
Although Type-Moon Company had released relevant information and promoted the technology by showing free previews a long time ago, no one took it seriously at the time.
Many people believe that this 3D technology is more hype than practical application, just like the polarized 3D technology currently on the market.