Don't Call Me Master, Call Me Director

"Cough, cough!"

Rin regained her spirits and glared fiercely at Shinji.

"Oh my, Big Sister Rin, you don't have to look at me like that, you'll make me shy," Shinji said with his usual smirk.

"Take that fake smile off!" Tohsaka Rin said angrily, "Looking at you makes me sick."

Shinji said with feigned heartbreak, "Rin, you wound me so. We grew up together, after all."

"Even though I went abroad for a few years, our past friendship is still there. See, Shirou and I still get along great, don't we?"

Rin said aggressively, "Please don't add unnecessary memories to yourself! We never had any friendship. All I remember is you bullying me."

"Did you?"

"Do you want me to list them chronologically, or by severity?"

Shinji pouted. He hadn't expected this girl to hold such a grudge.

Perhaps because there was no Holy Grail War, the relationship between The Three Families was much closer than in other parallel universes. Shinji, Shirou, Rin, and Sakura had grown up together.

However, the way the four of them interacted was basically Shinji and Rin arguing, Shirou mediating, and Sakura quietly following behind them.

"It's just squabbling between kids, Rin. Do you really have to remember it until the day you die?" Shinji grumbled.

"..."

Rin's eyebrows twitched. That was the sign she gave before losing her temper.

"Alright, let's let the past be the past," Shinji said, quickly changing the subject, not wanting to get beaten. "Let's get along well in the days to come."

Shinji's goodwill only increased Tohsaka Rin's vigilance. She asked warily, "What bad thing are you planning now?"

"You saying that really hurts me," Shinji waved his hand. "Look, I've even invited you to be the female lead in my first movie. Isn't that proof of my sincerity?"

Rin glanced away displeased, her face slightly flushed. "Hmph, I wouldn't be here if my father hadn't asked. I really don't want to do this troublesome thing."

[If you really didn't want to come, you wouldn't be taking a salary.]

Shinji shrugged his shoulders. He had experienced Rin's tsundere nature and her saying the opposite of what she meant since they were kids.

"If it's about academics, Rin, you don't have to worry. I've already hired tutors for you students. They'll be here tomorrow..."

"Nani!! Tutors!!"

Illya, who had been eavesdropping nearby, cried out.

"Yes, that's right," Shinji nodded. "Not just for high school, but for elementary school too."

It was manageable when they were filming at the Emiya Residence. Shirou and the others could still go to school during the day. By taking leave from school for club activities under the guise of social practice, they could get out a few hours early and wouldn't affect their studies.

However, the Einzbern castle was deep in the mountains of Fuyuki City. It took a long time to drive up and down the mountain, so they would have to take leave from school.

Therefore, to prevent the students in the crew from falling too far behind in their studies due to filming, Shinji had to hire tutors for them.

He was running a proper film crew, so he naturally had to ensure the academic progress of the underage members of the crew.

However, Illya clearly didn't quite understand Shinji's good intentions. Her small face was filled with unhappiness.

Illya, who had thought that filming in the mountains would mean no school and plenty of playtime, now felt like the sky was falling.

"Can we not have tutors?"

Illya, only 10 years old, was at an age where she loved to play. Studying was naturally the work of demons and villains!

"No, Illya,"

Rin said with a sweet smile, gently stroking the little girl's head. As long as it had nothing to do with Shinji, Rin was very patient.

"You're still young, you must study hard. Otherwise, you'll end up like a certain unserious big brother who still only has a junior high education."

As she spoke, Rin glanced at Shinji. It was obvious who "a certain big brother" referred to.

Shinji, however, was unfazed. He wagged his finger and boasted, "Rin, don't forget, I'm now a Doctor from Oxford University~"

"Oh, oh, Brother Shinji is so amazing,"

Illya's eyes sparkled, and she looked at Shinji with admiration.

Rin's lips twitched. "What's so great about that fake degree to brag about?"

Rin knew very well how Shinji got his doctorate.

The Clock Tower would award its graduates a doctorate in linguistics from Oxford University to facilitate their lives in the mundane world.

Strictly speaking, the mages from the Clock Tower were qualified to receive a doctorate in linguistics, as much of their magical research involved ancient Greek, Old English, ancient Indian, and various other obscure languages.

Those who graduated from the Clock Tower were all talents who had made significant contributions to linguistics.

However, there were always exceptions, and Shinji was a typical example of someone who was weak in theory but strong in practice. Although he had mastered the application of magic, his theoretical knowledge was lacking.

But there was nothing that could be done about it. After all, Shinji's study time at the Clock Tower was limited, and his graduation was entirely due to his prodigy-level magical talent.

It was precisely because of this that Rin would mock Shinji's watery degree.

"Don't worry, I speak Chinese fluently anyway," Shinji said with a cold snort.

"Chinese isn't something you've known since you were little? What's there to brag about?"

Rin rubbed her temples. She didn't want to waste any more words with Shinji; it would just make her angry.

"Never mind, I'll put my luggage in my room first, then I'll go over the script. Since I promised Father, I should at least play the role well."

Rin tossed her hair and walked towards the castle.

"Ah, right, Rin."

Hearing Shinji call her, Rin stopped and turned to look at him.

"If possible, I hope you'll smile more," Shinji suggested to Rin.

"What?" Rin scoffed haughtily, "Do you expect me to give you a pleasant look?"

"Not at all. China has an old saying, 'Too much joy leads to upset.' Smiling often is good for your figure."

After speaking, Shinji playfully winked at Rin.

Rin froze for two seconds, then a blush spread from her cheeks all the way to her snow-white neck.

"Matou Shinji! I'll kill you!"

If Jewels weren't so expensive, Rin would have definitely used them to bombard Shinji.

However, Master Shinji himself entered the castle before Rin, leaving her behind.

Shinji, upon entering the castle, wasn't going back to his room to rest. Instead, he was directing Heroic Spirits and the rest of the film crew in setting up the castle's scenes.

Although the current setup of the Einzbern castle was close to perfect compared to Shinji's vision, some areas still needed modification.

For instance, to match the lighting during filming, the colors of the wallpaper, carpets, and other furnishings needed to be changed. Otherwise, the picture's saturation would be problematic, failing to highlight the characters.

Fortunately, the castle's owner, Irisviel, was very cooperative with the filming itself and readily agreed to Shinji's requests for modifying the castle. Irisviel even said that if Shinji needed it, he could dismantle the entire castle.

The reason Irisviel was so enthusiastic wasn't due to Shinji's contract with the Einzbern family, but simply because she was very interested in making a movie.

In Shirou's private words, his adoptive mother had a bit of a manic personality; she was always very easy to talk to about things she was interested in.

Seeing how cooperative Irisviel was, Shinji, who usually liked to take advantage, felt a little embarrassed. To repay the lady for her support of his film, Shinji made a slight revision to the script, adding a few more scenes in the castle plot and increasing the role of Illya's Maid for Irisviel to cameo in, letting her have some fun.

However, to be honest, Irisviel's acting wasn't very good.

After all, the lady was too lively and didn't seem like Illya's Maid at all.

"With her smiling like that, she looks more like Illya's older sister."

Shinji grumbled as he watched the footage on the monitor.

"Mhm, kid. You're making a lot of sense. Iris is the best," Kiritsugu nodded enthusiastically from the side.

Master Shinji: "..."

Old Man Kiritsugu, you just spoil them.

Chapter 6: Shirou: Me? Thank you, Shinji.

"Illya!"

On the temporary set at the Einzbern castle, Shinji called Illya over.

They had just been doing a trial run of Illya kidnapping Shirou. The overall effect was good, but he felt Illya could do even better.

"What is it, Brother Shinji?"

Illya skipped over to Shinji, looking up at him with her adorable big eyes.

Shinji bent down, meeting Illya's gaze, and said, "You did very well just now. It'll be perfect if you can make your innocent expression a little more natural."

Among the main actors, Illya had the greatest difference in personality from her character in the FSN story, making her role the most challenging.

Although none of them were professional actors, most of the actors' roles in the script were not very different from their own personalities, so as long as they could naturally perform as themselves in front of the camera, they would be successful.

Illya was the only exception. Without the dark experiences of the original work, Illya was truly just an innocent and pure young lady of high standing.

Of course, Illya in the original work wasn't a pure villain in the traditional sense.

Shinji felt that describing Illya's character as having blurred lines between good and evil would be more accurate, which placed a high demand on Illya's acting skills.

However, Illya herself was working hard. Although her performance was far from perfect during rehearsals and filming, people could still see her rapid improvement.

But perhaps because the Illya in the script was actually older than Shirou, Illya always tried to show her mature side when acting, which made her performance somewhat unnatural.

"You're doing great, Illya."

Shinji placed his hand on Illya's shoulder and continued, "But I know you can do better. Didn't you tell me you were a genius actress? Then show me all your potential."

Illya wrinkled her nose, puffed out her cheeks, and mumbled, "I will."

Earlier, Illya had said that because she wanted Shinji to give her more scenes, so she could legitimately skip class.

Who would have thought that Shinji would actually hire a private tutor for her, and a one-on-one one at that? She was the only elementary school student in the entire crew, which was far more painful than attending school.

"Shinji, you mean old big brother!"

Illya's face turned slightly red, and she put on a [I'm super fierce] expression.

Unfortunately, Master Shinji had no interest in a 10-year-old loli and simply waved his hand, "Go get ready."

The makeup artist beside her immediately followed Illya, helping her and Shirou Emiya, who would be appearing on screen with her, with their makeup.

For the next while, the film crew continued with test shoots instead of actually starting work.

This was because Shinji, the Director, and the crew's cinematographer were constantly searching for the most suitable filming locations and techniques.

Although many filming methods had been conceived during the planning stage, for a novice like Shinji, the difference between conception and actual on-site filming could be quite significant.

Furthermore, the cinematographer had been hired from a film company, not someone Shinji had trained himself. While the cinematographer's technical skills were up to par, he couldn't instantly grasp Shinji's intentions, requiring continuous coordination between the two.

"Sigh, now I understand why those famous directors have their own regular behind-the-scenes teams. That way, they don't have to coordinate with the members every time they shoot a new movie."

Shinji, sitting in the director's chair, sighed with a hint of helplessness, and the idea of building his own team moved up on his agenda.

"Lights, ready!" Shinji picked up the microphone and said to everyone, "Actors, ready--Action!"

Due to several previous test shoots, both the crew members and the lead actors, Shirou Emiya and Illya, quickly got into character.

According to the script's setup, Illya slowly walked to the center of the room, appearing in Shinji's camera lens.

When Illya reached her designated spot, Shirou, who was tied to a chair, gasped and said in a slightly tired voice, "Let me go, Illya. No matter what you say, I..."

Illya placed her finger on Shirou's lips and said with a girlish, innocent smile, "Shirou, you're so disobedient. Listen carefully, the current Shirou is like a bird in a cage, isn't he? Whether he lives or dies is entirely up to me, so don't say anything that might anger me."

As she spoke, Illya deliberately leaned her face close to Shirou's.

Her eyes glowed slightly, drawing Shirou's gaze to her ruby-like eyes. Shirou felt as if he were being completely sucked in by them.

"I've waited ten years. It would be no fun to just kill Shirou like this."

"Wh--"

The little loli's voice, like someone begging for a toy, sent a chill down Shirou's spine with its cruelty, causing him to hold his breath.

He glanced at Illya again and struggled instinctively.

Then--