Shirou scratched his cheek as he replied, "But that guy Shinji didn't even tell us when we'd get to Fuyuki City. Even if he was worried about flight delays, he could've at least given us an approximate time..."
"Welcome, Shirou Emiya."
At Artoria's greeting, Shirou hurriedly looked up.
"Oh, it's Saber. You... Pfft—!!!"
Seeing Artoria standing before him in a maid outfit, Shirou completely lost his bearings.
Even Illya's eyes lit up when she saw Artoria dressed like that. She excitedly flicked her ears like a cat.
"W-wow! Illya wants to wear such a pretty outfit too!"
"No, no, Illya, you don't need to."
Shirou hurriedly pulled his little sister away so she wouldn't go astray.
"Shirou, Illya, please come in."
Artoria didn't seem to think there was anything wrong with her outfit. Like a real maid, she ushered the two guests into the house.
"All right, I understand."
The sight was so shocking that Shirou forgot to ask Artoria why she was dressed like that. He simply followed obediently behind her.
"Shirou Emiya, Illya Einzbern, please wait in the living room."
After showing them to the living room, Artoria didn't linger. She went straight into the kitchen.
Shirou peered inside from the doorframe and saw Artoria stirring a pot with a spoon. The slightly pungent smell told him it was Mapo Tofu sauce.
"Sakura, what on earth is going on?!"
Completely bewildered, Shirou went straight to the mistress of the Matou Family.
"Quiet, senpai. This is the exciting part."
Sakura unceremoniously pushed Shirou aside, telling him not to block the camera in her hands.
"This is perfect footage for extorting allowance money from my brother, so please don't interfere," Sakura warned him very seriously.
"What kind of nonsense is this?" Shirou was even more confused.
"Young man, all you need to do is wait quietly."
"Kirei, you're here too... Pfft!!! What's with you?!"
Seeing Kirei Kotomine sitting by the dining table with a white napkin tied around his neck, Shirou spat out for the second time that day.
Holding a spoon, Kirei Kotomine replied, "I'm just receiving treatment."
"Hey, hey, you're drooling."
Shirou didn't even know where to start with his complaints.
Artoria, still making Mapo Tofu in the kitchen, turned around and grumbled.
"Honestly, you said eating Mapo Tofu would cure May Sickness. Kirei, don't you eat this every day? Do you really have May Sickness?"
As she spoke, Artoria shot Kirei Kotomine a look.
"The ingredients are no different from ordinary Mapo Tofu, apart from the excessive amount of chili... Cough, cough, it really is choking."
"T-this... Ow, ow... My stomach hurts so much, and my chest too. My arms and legs have no strength either."
Kirei Kotomine suddenly clutched his stomach and pretended to be ill in a completely flat voice.
This guy... He's willing to do anything just to eat Mapo Tofu.
Watching this, Shirou could only manage an awkward yet polite smile.
"I wonder if he just wants to eat Mapo Tofu, or if he wants to watch someone make a version he doesn't like. He's completely flipped the switch. Does Matou Shinji know what he's doing?"
Shirou turned around and only then noticed Archer leaning against the wall, commenting with an air of detached amusement.
"Couldn't you guys explain it to him?" Shirou could tell from Red A's teasing gaze that he was just watching for fun.
Red A gave a sly smile. "Why would we explain something this entertaining?"
"...You guys..."
Shirou sighed and rubbed his forehead. He would never admit that he was already looking forward to seeing what would happen when Shinji got home. Never!
In the kitchen, Sakura continued filming Artoria while telling her what to do.
"Quick! Look into the camera and say, 'Dinner's ready, dear!' like a newlywed wife!"
"Sakura, what's the point of this?"
Artoria eyed her suspiciously.
Sakura kept making things up. "Oh, my brother's been away for almost half a month. His May Sickness must be really severe by now. We need a strong dose of medicine to cure him!"
"I... I understand..."
Artoria took a deep breath. She imitated the heroine from a shojo manga she'd borrowed from Rin, hiding her face behind a spoon and pretending to look bashful.
"Dinner will be ready soon, darling..."
"Perfect!!"
Sakura excitedly waved her fist and laughed triumphantly.
"With this, my brother will be over the moon!"
"Hey, Sakura. You're going to record your own voice like that."
Unfortunately, Sakura couldn't hear Artoria's warning anymore. She was lost in her own world.
"What should I use next? A sexy swimsuit? But Saber's figure isn't right for that... Maybe a gorgeous dress... No, no... That probably won't move my brother..."
Faced with Sakura muttering to herself at top speed, Artoria could only sigh helplessly.
Only Kirei Kotomine remained seated at the dining table, quietly wiping the drool from the corner of his mouth.
"Is the Mapo Tofu ready yet?"
Just as things in the Matou Family kitchen were starting to spiral out of control, the doorbell finally rang.
"I'm home."
Shinji's voice came through the intercom.
"Master!!"
Oh no! I forgot about the most important patient!
Artoria's ahoge shot straight up. She carelessly set the Mapo Tofu on the table, then dashed toward the door.
Master, you have to be all right! Wait for me. I'll make you healthy again!
The moment she reached the front door, Artoria put her hands on her knees and flashed Shinji a sweet smile, one Sakura had taught her over and over.
"Mster! Welcome home!"
Standing in the doorway, Shinji was also taken aback by Artoria's maid outfit.
But unlike Shirou, Shinji had seen plenty of things, and he quickly composed himself. He waved energetically at Artoria.
"Artoria, long time no see. Did you miss me?"
Having made a fortune at Cannes this time, Master Shinji was in an excellent mood.
Seeing how energetic Shinji was, Artoria let out a huge sigh of relief.
"Thank goodness. It looks like your May Sickness is cured, Master." Artoria smiled and patted her chest. "It's such a relief that your Magic Circuits didn't run dry!"
Shinji wore an expression of utter confusion. "My Circuits ran dry? Saber, what kind of curse are you putting on me? Do you hate your Master that much?"
"Huh? Huh?"
The ahoge on Artoria's head wobbled twice.
The King of Knights' adorably confused expression made Shinji frown. He sensed that something was wrong.
"All right, tell me what's going on."
Artoria hurriedly explained the horrors of May Sickness to Shinji.
Then Shinji immediately denied it.
"May Sickness isn't the kind of illness you're worried about, Artoria!" Shinji laughed and waved his hand. "And how could someone as hardworking as me possibly get May Sickness? That brat Illya is much more likely to get it."
"..."
Seeing Artoria standing there, flushed with embarrassment, Shinji quickly stopped laughing.
"Uh, Artoria didn't mean it like that... Um, what are you doing?"
Shaking all over, Artoria silently closed the front door again, leaving Shinji outside.
"I'm sorry, Master. You might have to wait a little longer before you can come in."
Artoria turned back toward Shinji and gave him a smile devoid of humor. Then, holding the golden-glowing Excalibur in one hand, she marched furiously into the Matou Residence.
That day, a huge pillar of light rose over a residential area in Fuyuki City.
According to the investigation afterward, the explosion had been caused by a gas leak.
Toho Theaters: "This Is Actually Pretty Good!!"
The 56th Cannes Film Festival had ended in resounding success, and Shinji had returned to Japan. But the storm FSN had stirred up in Europe and America was only just beginning.
Although FSN's critical reputation had all but collapsed, the wave of moviegoers it had inspired meant that during the festival, it had even eclipsed the films that had won awards.
Years later, when people looked back on that festival, they might not remember which film had won the Palme d'Or, or even who had won Best Actor and Best Actress. But FSN's debut would remain a topic countless people would talk about with delight forever.
As a capable entertainment manager, Chloe's promotional instincts, while perhaps not quite on par with Shinji's, were still among the best in the industry.
With the film having earned a solid audience response at its Cannes screenings, Chloe had devised a fairly aggressive promotional plan.
The film would hit the major markets in Europe and America in early June. It wouldn't be a limited release, but a wide one.
Chloe understood that you had to strike while the iron was hot. She planned to give audiences in Europe and America this gift while they were at their most curious about FSN.
To support the Jidai Group's release plans, Shinji also kept busy after returning to Japan.
He took the film's main cast along and regularly participated in creating promotional materials, from shooting movie posters to recording interviews, doing everything he could to cheer on FSN's upcoming global release.
While the Jidai Group's promotional campaign for FSN was in full swing in Europe and America, the film was also thriving in Japan.
As the film's Japanese box office continued climbing, even the Toho Theaters chain, which had previously refused to screen FSN, "surrendered" and began showing Fate at its theaters.
It wasn't that Toho Theaters had staged a "stubbornly principled Wang Jingze" routine. Faced with FSN's mouthwatering box-office numbers and the "clamoring public opinion" of their own employees, the chain's executive manager had no choice but to give in.
As far as the employees in Toho Theaters' distribution department were concerned, why should their department's performance take the hit just because the publicity department was groveling to film critics?
Would the publicity department make up for the lost revenue if FSN earned less?
"Idiots in the publicity department! How can we run a movie theater properly when we're surrounded by vermin like you?!"
The executive manager of Toho Theaters knew the Japanese film market all too well. The country's annual box-office total had long since stopped growing.
In other words, every movie released in Japan was fighting for box-office revenue from other movies.
Japan had films that grossed over ten billion yen every year, but competition was cutthroat when it came to the box office of individual films.
So for movie theaters, every film with the potential to gross over ten billion yen was one they couldn't afford to miss.
Still, the distribution department's decision to screen FSN was no different from slapping the publicity department in the face.
They had sworn to the film critics, "Even if Toho goes bankrupt, we'll never screen that piece of trash." Yet the distribution department had given in before even a month had passed. They had about as much backbone as the French.
However, when the publicity department's executive manager asked the distribution department's executive manager to take the film out of theaters as soon as possible, he received a negative answer.
The distribution manager spread his hands and said helplessly, "Sorry, you have your OKRs, and I have my KPIs. Keeping film critics happy isn't one of my department's targets, so what do I care if the critics throw a fit?"
Of course, since they were colleagues, he didn't shut the door completely.
"If you can persuade the board to lower our targets for this year, then we can talk. We'd do anything, even screen FSN backward, if it meant taking it out of theaters."
And... that was the end of that.
The publicity department wasn't stupid enough to go to the board with such an outrageous request. The theater chain was the biggest source of revenue for the entire Toho company.
The publicity department manager might have been on the same level as the old hand from the distribution department standing in front of him, but if the distribution department was the board's favorite child, the publicity department wasn't even its illegitimate one.
Before you continue