Japan's New Idol for Housewives

Shinji returned the other party's greeting with a cheerful smile.

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In fact, the people who were getting more anxious over FSN's soaring box office than the critics were another group entirely.

Japan's magus community.

As a film made by magi—and one that offered all kinds of profound, mysterious analysis at that—the magus community had been keeping a close eye on FSN from the start.

But as time went on, aside from a few stubborn old-timers who were overly fixated on mystery, more and more magi began focusing on FSN's box office.

They couldn't help it. Master Shinji had asked Bandai to include the film's box-office figures in all its promotional materials. The magi would have had a hard time not noticing.

At first, everyone had thought nothing of it. They figured it was a good thing that one of their own could make money by making a movie. But the more they thought about it, the more something seemed off.

Actually, some magi had already started getting ideas when FSN topped the box office in its second week with 630 million yen.

Then, when the film made 1.37 billion yen in its third week, bringing its cumulative total to over two billion yen, the magi could no longer stay calm.

"Damn it! They're practically robbing people! No, even robbery doesn't bring in money this fast!"

"That much money? You can make that much by making a movie?"

Two billion yen! What could we accomplish if we put that into research on mystery?!

In short, the magi were jealous.

Chapter 32: Japan's New Idol for Housewives

It was easy to understand why the magi were envious of FSN's astonishing box office. In this day and age, Magecraft research was an investment whose returns were wildly out of proportion to its costs.

As mystery faded, the magi had to spend more and more on research, yet their results kept dwindling.

But they were fascinated by mystery, pursued the Root, and had generations of effort behind them. They weren't willing to give up the path of research, so they could only grit their teeth and press on.

Quite a few Mage Families had exhausted their fortunes in the process and ended up penniless.

Though there were magi who held high positions in politics or business, as well as wealthy landowners like the Matou Family, most Mage Families were falling into decline, just like the Tohsaka family.

FSN's arrival was like the first ray of dawn. The magi had finally realized that Magecraft could be used to make money—and a lot of it.

Even if the yen wasn't worth much, two billion yen was still a hefty sum. Many Clock Tower research departments didn't even have an annual budget of two billion yen.

Everyone knew the production company wouldn't get to keep all of that two billion yen, but they also knew that FSN's run was nowhere near over.

In its fourth week, FSN's box office climbed again, reaching 1.56 billion yen. That pushed its Japanese total past the three-billion-yen mark, to 3.56 billion yen.

The reason was that Master Shinji had found a way to mobilize another enormous audience in Japan: housewives.

Don't underestimate these wives, who spent most of the day at home. According to Japan's entertainment industry, they were the country's biggest consumers of entertainment, even outspending children and otaku.

The reason was simple: housewives controlled the family finances and had plenty of free time.

With money to spend and time on their hands, and little to do besides housework, Japanese housewives were perfectly placed to follow celebrities and watch dramas.

Johnny & Associates had been lifted to the top of Japan's talent agencies by housewives.

Master Shinji's approach to mobilizing them was simple, too. He edited a commercial featuring FSN's handsome men and had Bandai run it during the daytime dramas housewives loved most.

The idea had come from the little fan girl who'd been utterly captivated by Gilgamesh at the screening. She'd made Shinji realize that the King of Heroes had the looks to win over most women in the world.

Master Shinji had originally planned to keep Gilgamesh in reserve. If the box office really stalled, he would use Gilgamesh to draw housewives to the theaters.

But FSN's box office had taken off before he even had to make a move, turning Gilgamesh from a trump card into a means of pushing the numbers even higher.

Still, if he couldn't save the day, there was nothing wrong with making an already good situation even better.

At the very least, Gilgamesh's looks had a serious effect on the housewives. Mesmerized by the handsome Gilgamesh in the trailer, they flocked to theaters with their families to watch FSN.

After the movie, they complained that Gilgamesh had too little screen time while carefully putting away their photos of Mr. Gold.

At the end of the trailer, Shinji had announced a promotion offering character photos to anyone who watched FSN.

That one move had made housewives across Japan eager to get their hands on a photo of Gilgamesh.

It was hard to say how many mothers secretly kept Gilgamesh's photo for themselves when they handed the giveaway to their children.

Anyway, Illya told Shinji that Gilgamesh's photo had become the rarest one at her school, even though the same number had been printed as Saber's and Shirou's.

"Why do so many women like that golden-haired monkey's face?"

Sakura had heard from Shinji that Gilgamesh's photos had sold out. As she strolled around town, she complained about it to Artoria and Medusa.

In Sakura's eyes, Gilgamesh had been a burden to the production, causing all sorts of trouble during filming. Why was he getting so much attention?

"Sakura, there's something you need to understand." Medusa pushed up her glasses. "When you don't know much about someone, looks can make up for a lot. Besides, that twisted jerk isn't bad-looking."

"But Rider, you agree that he's a jerk, right? Artoria, what do you think?"

Sakura was still dissatisfied. She turned to Artoria, hoping for more support.

Artoria tilted her head as she chewed on a meat bun. "Mm... It's not that strange for Master to be popular, is it? He does look a little like Sir Lancelot."

"What does my brother have to do with this?"

Artoria asked in confusion, "Someone who's good-looking and has a bad personality—that's just Master, isn't it?"

"Ah-choo!"

Shinji, struck by the sudden sneeze, let out a huge one.

With Master Shinji adding all kinds of promotional touches to FSN, the film's box office had surged like a runaway horse. It had even kicked off a wave of moviegoing in April, which wasn't even peak season.

Many media outlets were predicting that FSN could become Japan's first film of the year to break the ten-billion-yen mark, and might even top the year's box office.

Those outlets had written their predictions to be as sensational as possible, but after the articles forecasting FSN's final box office went public, they managed to enrage the critics who had been calling the film a flop and stir up some other ideas among the Mage Families.

Back when the Matou Family had planned to make a movie, they had invited other Mage Families in Japan to join them.

The magi had all turned them down with the same excuse: "Shut up! You're disturbing my research into mystery!"

Now that the Matou Family was making money, everyone was envious.

They couldn't help it. That was ten billion yen!

Even a small fraction of it would be enough for the magi to start several new research projects.

So the heads of many Mage Families began contacting Matou Zouken.

Whether they tried to sound him out or asked outright, they all wanted a piece of the Matou Family's plan.

Some shamelessly set their sights on Shinji, the heart of the project, and brazenly asked Matou Zouken for his hand in marriage.

It went something like: "I have a daughter (or granddaughter). She's gorgeous, and she and your Shinji would make a perfect match. How about we join our families?"

Of course, there were magi who looked down on worldly things and cared more about Magecraft.

Some of them visited to ask for guidance, hoping Shinji would explain the Magecraft formulae in the film. Others planned to take the most direct approach and dissect the Holy Grail formulae in hopes of reaching the Root.

These people were even more troublesome. There weren't many normal people among the magi to begin with, and these were extremists among extremists.

To keep Ryuudou Temple safe, Matou Zouken had to arrange for the Heroic Spirits to take turns standing guard there.

The Heroic Spirits might not be as strong as those in other Parallel worlds, but they could easily beat the trash magi to a pulp.

It was just tough luck for Artoria and the other Heroic Spirits, who had to take on the role of that certain doorman whose name couldn't be mentioned.

Little Yi Ge, Yan Qing, actually enjoyed cosplaying that doorman to scare off intruders while on guard duty. It gave him some entertainment during the otherwise boring shifts.

Unfortunately, none of the magi who came to Fuyuki City, whatever their reasons, achieved their goals.

The intruders were soundly defeated by the Heroic Spirits, while those seeking marriage alliances or business partnerships went home empty-handed.

It wasn't that Matou Zouken was stingy. He had a perfectly good reason.

"My boy Shinji isn't here, and I can't make the decision for him as his grandfather."

Zouken wasn't just making excuses. Shinji really wasn't in Fuyuki City.

After May began, Shinji had taken Kariya to France to attend the Cannes Film Festival.

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Nice Airport, France.

Master Shinji pulled along an oversized suitcase, a faintly wicked, confident smile on his lips as he whistled his way out of the passage.

Behind him followed Kariya, like a lackey.

"Ah, the flight attendants at French airlines are so friendly," Master Shinji said with a sleazy grin. "French men might be hopeless, but the girls are great. So, Uncle Kariya, what are you looking at?"

Shinji noticed Kariya stretching his neck to look around and asked curiously.

"Nothing. I'm just looking for the person who's supposed to meet us."

Kariya darted his eyes around and answered evasively.

Shinji curled his lip. "Waver's the one meeting us. He should be easy to find, right? With that sleep-deprived, stomachache-ridden look, you could spot him from hundreds of meters away. Or did you not get the details sorted out when you talked to Waver?"

"Of course I did," Kariya retorted. "I only spoke with Mr. Velvet over the phone. I've never met him in person."

"Fair enough. Just look for the person in the crowd who looks like he's about to die of overwork."

"Matou Shinji! Are you badmouthing me again?"

A voice that sounded like it had been worn down by endless overtime cut in.

Waver glared furiously at Shinji, clearly unhappy with what he'd just said.

Master Shinji didn't look embarrassed in the slightest. Instead, he beamed and went over to hug Waver.

"Isn't this my good buddy Waver from the Clock Tower? Long time no see. Those dark circles are even worse."

"Tch."

Waver clicked his tongue impatiently, his brow furrowing until it creased his forehead.

"This won't do, Waver. You've got to take better care of yourself."

After ending the hug, Shinji straightened Waver's black suit as he smiled and expressed his concern.

"Don't give me that fake concern. If you hadn't suddenly gone back to Japan, I wouldn't have ended up with all that extra work," Waver said through gritted teeth.

"Did I? I've forgotten all about something that happened so long ago," Shinji replied languidly.

"It wasn't that long ago! It was just a few months back!" Waver rubbed his temples and complained helplessly. "You've always been like this. You're so irritating!"

Kariya, standing nearby, nodded repeatedly. "I know what you mean. Shinji's always dumping troublesome work on other people and making unreasonable demands! He's awful!"

"A kindred spirit!" Waver grabbed Kariya's hand, overcome with emotion. "We confirmed it over the phone, but now that we've finally met, I can say for sure: Mr. Matou Kariya, you really are my comrade in arms!"

"Exactly, Mr. Velvet!"

Kariya squeezed Waver's hand in return.

Shinji, feeling left out, hurriedly cut in. "Hey, have you two just forged some kind of bond through shared oppression?"

When he saw Kariya and Waver getting carried away, Shinji quickly interrupted their mutual admiration by bringing up work.

"Waver, how did things go with the European and American distributors I asked you to contact?"

"About that, I've already contacted several of them. They're all interested in the movie. But..."

Waver gave Shinji a long look and put on an air of mystery. "One distributor made a special request."

"A special request?"

For no apparent reason, Shinji's heart skipped a beat.

"That's right." Kariya picked up where he left off, wearing much the same smile as Waver. "Mr. Velvet asked what I thought, and I agreed. After all, you put me in charge of all the arrangements with Europe and America, didn't you, Shinji?"

"Mm..."

A shiver ran through Shinji as he sensed something was wrong. Then he realized Waver and Kariya had each grabbed one of his shoulders.

"What are you two planning?"

Shinji's mouth twitched, and a rare hint of panic crept into his voice.

"Nothing. I'm just introducing you to the distributor," Waver said happily, a sense of satisfaction welling up inside him. "Come on, Shinji. Let me introduce you to—"

Before Waver could finish, a silver-haired, red-eyed girl appeared before Master Shinji.

"MATOU! SHINJI!"