Matou Shinji Never Disappoints

It seemed old man Derek Ford hadn't been entirely right. Taking their clothes off could win actresses awards, but it could also bring in box-office revenue for the producers. No wonder there were more and more of these "art films."

After a while, Master Shinji could even guess how attractive a movie's leading lady was, and how long her nude scenes lasted, from the length of the line and how animated the audience members' conversations were.

No wonder people kept saying Western audiences had a thing for the risqué. These people really did have a thing for it.

As he watched the old perverts queue up to see naked women, Shinji hoped FSN would attract just as much attention.

In fact, although Shinji himself could wander around Cannes, FSN's publicity campaign had started long ago.

The publicity team had not only put up posters featuring the female lead, Artoria, early on, but had also spent a fortune on advertising screens around Cannes to play the film's trailer. They had even arranged a special interview for Tohsaka Rin.

Although they didn't need to win an award, if they wanted to secure a good distribution deal, the audience reaction at FSN's screening absolutely couldn't be poor.

For a film like FSN, with an unknown director and an unknown cast, the only way to attract a large audience at a film festival was through an extensive publicity campaign.

Unfortunately, the cast of FSN had practically no name recognition, and its all-ages rating gave French entertainment media little incentive to cover it. As a result, before its screening, FSN hadn't sparked much discussion in the local media.

By contrast, British media, from just across the Channel, were more interested in the film than in all those scantily clad starlets vying for attention.

The British media's interest in FSN wasn't because its heroine was the legendary King Arthur of Britain. It was the result of Waver's diligent efforts to develop business in Britain over the past year.

The British media's extensive coverage helped FSN enormously. Cannes was in France, of course, but the festival drew media and film enthusiasts from all over the world.

French locals might not be interested in British media, but people from other countries certainly were. Combined with the flashy combat scenes playing in trailers on the streets, this gave FSN some name recognition in Europe even before its debut there.

The fifth day of the Cannes Film Festival finally arrived. The twelve-day festival had reached its midpoint, and FSN's European premiere in Cannes was set to open that day.

FSN's premiere was scheduled at a reasonably good movie theater. It wasn't one of the theaters at the festival's main venue, but it was still a far cry from the stinginess Bandai had shown a month earlier.

It was a little ironic. FSN had been denied this sort of premiere treatment in Japan, even though it was a Japanese film, only to receive it in France, in Europe.

That was thanks to the hard work of the European branch of the TYPE-MOON Film Company, led by Waver, and even more to the influence of the European Mage Families that had partnered with Shinji.

Still, compared with the premieres of other top-tier films, FSN's was rather modest. It didn't even have the signature red-carpet ceremony.

The main reason was that Rin was the only cast member who'd come. There wasn't much point in walking the red carpet.

Shinji himself had no intention of doing charity work by letting others piggyback on the red carpet for publicity, so he simply canceled it.

There would be no red carpet, but the press interviews before the screening were a must.

To build buzz around the film, Waver and the others had worked hard to bring more than a hundred reporters from nearly fifty media outlets around the world to the premiere.

Judging by media attention alone, FSN could just about make the top ranks of this year's Cannes Film Festival.

When Shinji entered the theater with Rin and Kariya, reporters handpicked by the publicity department came straight over to interview them.

The reporters split into three groups. The largest crowd gathered around Rin, the next-largest around Shinji, while only a handful surrounded Kariya, mostly just watching.

Since the reporters had been screened in advance, their questions were largely routine. Nothing was out of line.

But they were more interested in Shinji's age than in FSN itself, and most of their questions were about that.

After all, Shinji wasn't old enough to be considered an adult in any country. The contrast between a school-age boy and a director whose feature film had been officially selected for Cannes was simply too great.

That was the main point Waver and the others used to promote him: a sixteen-year-old genius director!

After the interviews, Shinji stood at the theater entrance and chatted amicably with representatives from distribution companies.

The premiere was more like a screening for people in the industry and the media. Most of the attendees were media professionals or representatives and buyers from film distribution companies around the world.

Ordinary audience members made up less than a third of the crowd. They were there mostly to fill the seats and set the mood.

If the distributors liked the film, they would attend the later screenings for general audiences before deciding whether to buy it.

Since the people who approached him might become future partners, Shinji was fairly polite during these conversations, at least maintaining basic social etiquette.

That lasted until a silver-haired beauty appeared.

"Matou Shinji, we meet again."

Chloe smiled.

"Yes, we meet again." Shinji nodded. "I hope you enjoy the film."

Chloe covered her mouth and giggled. "Of course. I'm looking forward to seeing what you can do. I'm very curious to see how you'll put all that theory into practice."

Shinji seemed not to notice the sparkle in her eyes. He replied quite seriously, "I don't think you'll be disappointed as an audience member."

"Oh, Shinji, you're so mean. I'm a representative of the Jidai Group, you know~ Do you really not want to work with me?"

"I just—"

Before Shinji could finish, Rin, who had squeezed her way through the crowd of reporters, cut into their conversation.

"I'm exhausted. Talking to those reporters was so tiring. Shinji, listen—"

Rin stopped halfway through her complaint when she noticed Shinji and Chloe both staring at her.

Did I just get dragged into some kind of trouble?

Rin's first reaction, having sensed something amiss through her Instinct, was to glare fiercely at Shinji.

Shinji, you got yourself into trouble again!

Shinji: "???"

Chapter 36: Matou Shinji Never Disappoints

Shinji, Chloe, and Tohsaka Rin stared at one another at the theater entrance.

For a moment, the three of them fell into a strange silence.

In the end, Chloe spoke first.

"Oh, Shinji..."

Chloe grabbed Shinji by the shoulder and narrowed her eyes. "Who's this woman with you?"

Shinji's face turned ashen. "Lizzie...!?"

What is this bone-chilling smile? Isn't the Flora family's Magecraft in the Botany Department? Since when did they learn ice magic?

When Rin heard the silver-haired beauty address Shinji by his first name, she seemed to guess what was going on.

"This is one of the women you're seeing on the side, isn't she, Shinji?" Rin flicked her ponytail and smiled graciously. "Could you introduce us?"

"One of the women?"

Chloe's face had turned as cold as the Antarctic ice that never melted.

"Shinji, I don't remember raising you to be that kind of man, dear."

"Ah... Lizzie... ah!"

Shinji's brain was racing at a hundred and fifty miles an hour.

On the surface, Master Shinji looked completely unruffled, as if nothing was wrong. Inside, though, he felt that no matter how fast his heart beat, it still couldn't pump enough blood.

"Lizzie, this is Tohsaka Rin. I've told you about her before. She happens to have a role in the film this time, so I brought her to Cannes to look around."

Shinji explained Rin to Chloe in terms even Cú Chulainn, the Big Doggy, could understand.

"Hmph~~"

Chloe gave a soft snort through her nose. She still had no intention of letting Shinji off the hook.

"And? What did you mean by 'one of the women'?"

"Well..." Shinji thought for a moment, then improvised an excuse. "Rin isn't very used to English yet, so she phrased that a little awkwardly..."

Before Master Shinji could finish making up his excuse, Rin cut him off without the slightest courtesy.

"Hey, Shinji. Was what I said really that strange? Weren't you at the Clock Tower—"

How could Rin pass up such a great chance to diss Shinji?

She couldn't be bothered to help him cover up his lie. If nothing else, exposing his true nature might save the lady in front of her from a life of misery.

So Rin firmly pushed Shinji aside and took the initiative to speak with Chloe.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Tohsaka Rin."

As she spoke, Rin extended her hand.

"You really are beautiful, Miss. I knew Shinji often hung around with pretty girls, but I never expected him to get involved with someone as gorgeous as you. I'm surprised."

To Rin's surprise, after introducing herself, Chloe's eyes lit up. She clasped Rin's offered hand warmly in both of hers.

"Oh! So you're Tohsaka Rin? Shinji talks about you all the time. The Tohsaka family's genius mage, a genius girl with all five attributes."

"That guy... I mean, does Shinji really talk about me that often?"

Rin was a little surprised.

"He does!"

Chloe nodded vigorously. "You've been at each other's throats since childhood, an inescapable entanglement, practically like a pair of terrible friends!"

"An inescapable entanglement... terrible friends... Shinji, explain yourself!"

Terrifying magical energy erupted from Rin. Under its influence, her long black hair floated in the air like that of a vengeful ghost.

"Ahem! Lizzie, what are you talking about?"

Damn it, that was just drunken nonsense! Why do you remember it so clearly?!

For a moment, Master Shinji realized his life was in danger.

What went around came around.

Shinji understood that lesson all too well.

"All right, Lizzie."

Feeling that if these two kept talking, he might not live to see tomorrow's sunrise, Shinji decisively pulled Chloe aside.

"You have a distributor's ticket, right? You should head inside." Shinji urged her along. "I'll take you in."

With his life in danger, Shinji couldn't spare a thought for how he should treat Chloe. He just wanted to get the two young ladies away from each other as quickly as possible.

Smack.

Rin grabbed Shinji.

"Shinji, I'm a little interested in Western Magecraft... Why don't I take this young lady to find her seat?"

As she spoke, Rin gripped Shinji's shoulder hard enough to make it creak.

"She's someone important, isn't she? We should give her a proper welcome. Don't you think?"

"I think that's a great idea. I want to learn a little about the Japanese Mage world, too." Chloe clapped her hands and looked at Second Master. "What do you think, Shinji?"

Like I can say no.

At that moment, Master Shinji was close to tears. He really wanted to refuse, but the two young ladies' forceful manner left him no room to speak.

And so the two beauties, Chloe and Rin, walked into the theater arm in arm, leaving Master Shinji alone at the entrance, completely at a loss.

"That Tohsaka young lady seems quite interesting. You're lucky to have a childhood friend like her."

Waver, who'd watched the whole scene unfold, teased Shinji with a hint of glee.

Shinji merely smiled and said nothing at Waver's schadenfreude.

Just wait two more years, until Rin comes to study at the Clock Tower. I'm sure you'll come to appreciate this interesting Tohsaka young lady! You brooding, kidney-deficient, stomachache-ridden man!

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

As a representative of the Jidai Group, Chloe had been given an excellent seat. The spot toward the back, near the middle, was the "king's seat," the most comfortable place to watch the film.

Chloe figured Waver Velvet had arranged such a good seat. That bastard Shinji would never take such good care of her.

The Jidai Group actually had two seats, one for Chloe and one for her assistant. Since Rin had joined them, Chloe had simply sent her somewhat inconvenient assistant away and given Rin her seat.

So when Shinji entered the theater, he immediately spotted the two of them chatting away.

Seeing them talking so intimately, like close friends, Shinji really wanted to go over and find out what they were saying.

But the film was about to start, so he had no choice but to take his seat with Waver.

I hope those two don't reveal all my secrets.

With that uneasy thought in mind, Shinji couldn't appreciate how comfortable the theater's luxurious upholstered seats were. He felt as if he were sitting on pins and needles.

In fact, by then, Chloe and Rin weren't talking about him at all.