Chapter 13: Magus's Banquet (×) Blind Date Convention (√)

For the majority of the crew members, the end of filming meant they could enjoy a comfortable and extended break. Even the student actors would have a chance to study in peace during final exams and create an opportunity for themselves to enjoy the winter vacation.

However, Shinji was excluded from this good fortune. Just after resting at home for two days, he embarked on the post-production of FSN alone in Tokyo.

It's not that Shinji didn't want to stay in Fuyuki City to work. Unfortunately, there were no film post-production studios in Fuyuki City, so he had to go to Tokyo, the current film center of Japan, for the post-production work of FSN.

The post-production process itself went relatively smoothly. With the help of his uncle, Kariya Matou, who was a special effects actor in Tokyo, Shinji was able to rent a post-production studio from Tsuburaya Productions. Being an established film and television company, Tsuburaya's studio was well-equipped to meet Shinji's needs. Shinji also hired an experienced editor from Tsuburaya to assist him with the tedious process of film editing.

However, there was one thing that annoyed Shinji. His seven Servants, who were summoned by the Holy Grail, couldn't leave Fuyuki City due to their connection to the leyline. This forced Shinji to return to Fuyuki City for the post-production voice dubbing of the film.

As a result, Shinji had to shuttle between Fuyuki City and Tokyo during this period.

"It's decided! Once FSN makes money, I'm going to establish a complete film post-production studio in Fuyuki City!"

Back in the Matou residence, Shinji, who had returned from Tokyo once again, slumped onto the table and complained.

"Oh, really?"

Sitting across from Shinji, Zouken responded lazily, as if he hadn't quite heard what Shinji had said.

"Grandpa~"

Shinji's lips twitched uncontrollably, and his right hand clenched and relaxed several times.

If he wasn't worried that a single punch might result in multiple fractures, Shinji would have punched this "Master Yoda" into pieces already.

There was no denying it, at this moment, Zouken was seriously asking for a beating.

At the moment, Zouken was lounging on a couch with both of his legs up, sinking into the cushion like quicksand. He held a glass of fine wine in one hand (probably swindled from the gleaming King's Treasury), and in the other, he toyed with a recently imported cricket from China.

On his right side stood a fruit platter, and a respectfully bowing Kotomine, while on his left side, a slowly fanning Hercules looked rather simple-minded.

"Grandpa, where did you get this earthworm-like creature?!"

Shinji slammed the table and yelled at Zouken.

Zouken scratched his left knee lazily with his right foot and nonchalantly replied, "Ah~ I was already a nouveau riche."

"You make a good point, and I can't argue with that for a moment–Wait, why are you fanning yourself with a fan in the dead of winter!"

"Because I turned on the air conditioning."

Zouken took a sip of wine and answered indifferently.

"Then why don't you turn off the air conditioning? Do you know how much the electricity bill is?"

The cost of electricity in Japan was exorbitant, just like the price of fruit in the country. Especially in the winter and summer, if you weren't careful, the electricity bill could easily reach six digits.

Although the Matou Family wasn't strapped for cash, they still couldn't afford to be so wasteful.

"You're so foolish, Shinji." Zouken shot his grandson a disdainful look and flaunted the cricket in his palm, "Turn off the air conditioning? My little darling would freeze to death."

"..."

It seemed that no matter which world he was in, Zouken's love for insects remained unchanged.

Shinji didn't know whether to be happy or not. At the very least, his grandfather was playing with crickets and not worms with Crest worms engraved on them, right?

"Onii-sama, don't mind grandpa." Sakura handed Shinji a cup of tea while complaining, "Ever since he bought this creature, he's been acting crazy nonstop."

Zouken complained with a look of grievance, "Sakura, it's too much to say that about your grandpa. Even this old man only has a few simple hobbies."

Sakura glared at him with dissatisfaction and said coldly, "Grandpa! If you keep acting this strange, I'll deep-fry that creature!"

"Don't do that, Sakura. You can't be so cruel to my little darling. Shinji, my good grandson, you better persuade your little sister."

Zouken turned his head towards Shinji.

Shinji pretended not to notice and lowered his head to drink his tea.

He wasn't joking; he had encountered situations like this with his grandfather before. If he helped his grandfather now, then he'd end up with fried crickets in his own food bowl later.

"Sakura, this tea tastes quite good. Your tea-brewing skills are becoming increasingly impressive."

Ignoring Zouken's gaze, Shinji smiled and complimented Sakura.

Receiving her brother's praise, Sakura displayed a slightly shy and satisfied expression.

"Onii-sama, how's work been lately?"

"It's been alright," Shinji sighed lightly, "I just keep getting into arguments with Mr. Kohara."

Mr. Kohara was the editor from Tsuburaya Productions, and Shinji often clashed with him due to their vastly different approaches to film editing.

In the eyes of the seasoned editor, many of Shinji's editing ideas seemed like chaos, while Shinji felt that Mr. Kohara's methods were too conservative and failed to capture the essence of commercial cinema.

It's worth noting that Shinji's proposed commercial film editing plan wasn't arbitrary; it was based on solid theoretical foundations. In his past life, the Hollywood film studios conducted extensive research to ensure a return on their multimillion-dollar investments. Through extensive data analysis and psychological research, they even created a comprehensive framework and timeline for commercial film editing.

This detailed timeline was precise to the point where it dictated when each action scene should begin and end, when the emotions and conflicts between the main characters should start, when they should kiss, and so on.

However, by the time Shinji transmigrated, this timeline had lost much of its effectiveness, as most commercial films had moved away from strictly adhering to it. Due to the saturation of movies following similar templates, audiences had grown weary of the formulaic approach.

Yet in this Type-Moon universe, for the newbie audiences who hadn't even seen "Star Wars," this framework was nothing short of ingenious. It was akin to Shinji solving math problems with calculus while everyone else was still using basic arithmetic.

Shinji believed that his film would be like an atomic bomb in an already stagnant film industry.

Fortunately, in this world where art films dominated, the directors held more authority in the filmmaking process than others. Even if the editor strongly disagreed, they couldn't oppose Shinji.

Shinji wasn't too concerned about the editor's attitude. After all, it was a simple employment arrangement; as long as the editor could help turn the footage into a film, that was enough.

"Enough already, grandpa. Get rid of that creature already!"

"No, my dear granddaughter, this is the only request I've made in my entire life."

"This is your 417th 'only request in my entire life'!"

The argument between Zouken and Sakura interrupted Shinji's train of thought.

Seeing that the squabble between the grandfather and granddaughter was starting to affect him, Shinji quickly finished the remaining tea in his cup and instinctively made his escape.

"Good grandson!"

As Shinji reached the staircase, Zouken called out to him.

"Grandpa, I won't go against Sakura. You should just yield to her."

"This has nothing to do with that." Zouken said with a grin, "There's a magus's gathering in Tokyo tomorrow night. You'll come with me."

"A gathering?"

Upon hearing his grandfather's words, Shinji's eyebrows slightly furrowed.

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Despite his strong reluctance, Shinji accompanied Zouken to Kyoto the next day to attend the gathering.

It was an end-of-year gathering for the native magus families of Japan, held annually in Kyoto. Different magus families in Kyoto would take turns hosting the event.

When Shinji followed his grandfather to the venue, he saw many well-known figures in the Japanese magus community, stretching as far as his eyes could see in the spacious banquet hall.

After a moment of reflection, Shinji realized that many of these people were prominent even in regular society.

Guided by the waitstaff, Shinji held a wine glass and followed his grandfather into the banquet hall.

To be honest, Shinji didn't hold much goodwill towards the native magus families and magus of Japan.

Perhaps influenced by Japan's conservative culture, the already closed-off atmosphere among magus was particularly pronounced in Japan.

If European magus could be described as conservative, then Japanese magus were the unyielding stones.

Therefore, practical magus like Shinji were seen as "disrespectful descendants" by these people. Shinji was also displeased with these old-fashioned notions, creating mutual disdain between the two sides.

"So, grandpa, why did you bring me here?"

In the banquet hall of a luxurious hotel in Kyoto, Shinji asked his grandfather, Zouken, with an annoyed expression.

"Dear grandson, don't say that~" Zouken chuckled, "You never know, there might be a family that understands you."

"How could that be possible?" Shinji sneered dismissively. "If that were the case, would I have gone to the Clock Tower to summon someone?"

Shinji's attitude towards these people perfectly verified Cao Cao's saying: "A youth who lacks the ability to plan isn't sufficient."

"Don't say that." Zouken looked up at Shinji. "According to your future plans, you'll likely continue summoning Heroic Spirits, right? Maybe some families will agree to lease their Ley Lines to you."

"How could that be possible?"

While Shinji said this, his body followed suit as he accompanied Zouken to meet various magus.

With the current magical energy of the Ley Lines in Fuyuki City, summoning seven Servants was already the limit. If Shinji wanted to summon new Servants, the best way was to connect other Ley Lines to those of Fuyuki City, thus expanding the magical energy reservoir of Fuyuki City.

And the Ley Lines with the highest magical energy in all of Japan were controlled by the magus in this banquet hall.

So, Shinji also thought his grandfather made a valid point. At the very least, there was no harm in getting to know these people.

However, as time passed, Shinji began to notice something amiss.

Out of the magus Zouken introduced him to, at least nine out of ten would intentionally or unintentionally mention their female relatives, praising their exceptional qualities and introducing them to Shinji in a very considerate manner.

"Grandpa."

After yet another exchange with a senior magus family, Shinji pulled his grandfather aside.

"Does this have nothing to do with the Ley Lines? Are you bringing me to a matchmaking event?"

Shinji questioned with a dark expression.

Zouken grinned. "What's the problem? Those girls are all quite nice."

"Hey!"

Unconvinced by his grandson's complaints, Zouken lightly tapped his cane.

"Dear grandson, you should know that your aptitude as a magus places you among the most outstanding of your generation in all of Japan. That these families aren't interested in you is what's abnormal."

Saying this, Zouken glanced at his grandson from the corner of his eye.

"Shinji, weren't you having a great time at the Clock Tower? Why so serious now that you're back in Japan?"

"That's entirely different." Shinji retorted in annoyance. "And weren't these old folks completely uninterested in my plans and ideas? Why are they suddenly interested in making me their son-in-law?"

Zouken teased, "They don't care what you want to do. As long as you can get their women pregnant."

The words of his own grandfather made Shinji feel somewhat uncomfortable. Although Shinji's grandpa himself was quite the ladies' man both above and below the Clock Tower, it was due to his appreciation and admiration for beautiful girls. They might not have been perfectly aligned, but at least it was an amorous union during mating season.

But these people...

"Saying they're inflatable dolls would be a compliment. How is it any different from animal breeding?" Shinji quietly commented.

"Magus are just like that."

Zouken nodded in agreement and then smirked, "But it's a good thing. If they ever refuse to lend you their Ley Lines, you can exchange your genetic factors in return."

"Grandpa..."

Shinji wanted to say something, but suddenly, two people approached them.

They were also a grandparent-grandchild pair, but the elder on the other side had a young woman with red hair beside him, rather than a grandson.

Shinji recognized them. The elderly man was the head of the prominent Japanese magus family, the Aozaki family. The young woman he brought along was Aoko Aozaki, one of the "Type-Moon Four Main Heroine."

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Tn: The Type Moon four main heroine are:

1. Aoko Aozaki

2. Arcueid Brunestud

3. Saber (Arturia Pendragon)

4. Shiki Ryougi

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