Chapter 15: Collaboration

Lord Aozaki's words weren't overly loud, yet the volume was just enough for everyone nearby to hear.

Clearly, Lord Aozaki's goal was to attract the attention of others and make Touko look bad.

But Touko wasn't someone to be trifled with either. She leisurely lit a cigarette, seemingly unaffected by Aozaki's words.

"Ah, this is going to be interesting."

Shinji, who had been on his way to get food, halted his steps, watching Aozaki's family members with keen interest.

Zouken Matou found a chair and sat down, muttering in a low voice, "Lord Aozaki is really going too far. How could he call his own granddaughter a stray dog? Even if that young girl is probably acting like a bitch in heat in the bedroom, it's quite bad to call her that outside of it."

"...Grandfather," Shinji massaged his temples with his fingers, "If you're going to speak, try not to make things worse."

Zouken chuckled nonchalantly, then shifted his gaze toward Lord Aozaki.

In the crowd, the standoff between the Aozaki grandfather and granddaughter continued.

"Grandfather, please don't be angry," Aoko quickly intervened with a forced smile, glancing at her elder sister as she tried to smooth things over.

However, instead of restraining herself, Touko sneered at her grandfather.

"Why aren't you leaving yet? Didn't you say this isn't a place for dogs to eat?"

Snap

The table around Touko shattered into splinters in an instant.

Judging by the magecraft energy Shinji sensed, it should have been the doing of Lord Aozaki.

"Grandfather."

Seeing her grandfather's temper flaring up, Aoko whispered in a hushed voice, "This is the banquet hall, and there are outsiders present."

This sentence managed to suppress Lord Aozaki's anger, which was on the brink of exploding.

Lord Aozaki pointed toward the banquet hall's entrance. "Leave. This is not a place where third-rate magus can be. You are no longer qualified to be here in the Aozaki family, as it stands!"

Touko stopped her motion of lighting a cigarette, and her eyes behind the lenses narrowed slightly.

Lord Aozaki was angry, and she was just as furious, if not more so.

However, with so many renowned figures in the Japanese magecraft world present, causing a scene would only embarrass everyone and jeopardize her future business prospects.

Thus, Aozaki Touko could only take a deep breath and suppress her inner anger.

"I'm attending this event at the invitation of my client, and it has nothing to do with you."

Upon hearing these words, Lord Aozaki opened his mouth, preparing to taunt her a bit more. But he didn't expect Touko to cut him off entirely, standing up directly.

"I thought it was some high-end banquet, but it's just at this level. I'm leaving, I'm leaving."

With that, Touko waved her hand without any semblance of decorum and left the banquet hall without looking back.

"Grandfather, please excuse me."

Shinji, who had been observing the situation, blinked his eyes, then decisively followed Touko.

"Go ahead, go ahead."

Zouken casually waved his cane. He seemed rather eager for Shinji to follow.

As Touko left, the atmosphere within the banquet venue became somewhat oppressive.

Lord Aozaki stood in silence, and the others didn't know what to say.

The fact that Touko had been kicked out of the Aozaki family was no secret; most of the Japanese magecraft community knew about it.

Though they knew, no one present would explicitly take sides.

The grandfather and granddaughter duo—Lord Aozaki was a respected magus of great stature, not someone to offend; the granddaughter was a renowned master of magecraft artifact creation and would likely be sought after in the future, so offending her was unwise.

Hence, everyone present kept their distance, not wanting to get involved in Aozaki family matters.

"Grandfather, please don't be upset."

Aoko stepped forward with a forced smile, trying to pacify him.

She didn't want to get involved in her sister and grandfather's issues, but she was the only one on-site who could still hold a conversation with Lord Aozaki.

"I'm not upset," Lord Aozaki suddenly chuckled. "She's not even part of the Aozaki family anymore. Why should I be upset?"

Aoko forced a smile, feeling somewhat dissatisfied with her grandfather's assertiveness.

Even if her elder sister didn't meet your requirements, why not have me inherit the family headship instead? Why insist on severing the relationship by kicking her out? Who is this display for?

"Alright, I'll introduce you to the young talents among Japanese magus," Lord Aozaki snorted heavily, grabbing Aoko and walking toward another direction in the banquet hall. "Aoko, be smart. You absolutely cannot mix with those unsavory characters."

A wry smile tugged at Aoko's lips, and her forced smile grew even more strained.

On the other side, Shinji finally found Touko.

She hadn't left the hotel; she was sitting on a sofa in the ground floor lobby.

"Would you mind if I sat by your side, Toukou-senpai?"

Although he phrased it as a request, Shinji didn't wait for Touko's agreement before taking a seat.

"Well, it's quite an honor to have such a handsome junior," she replied, her tone teasing.

Touko didn't mind and just smiled. She didn't respond to Shinji with hostility.

The fact that Shinji followed her indicated that he was on her side, which made Touko, who had been isolated earlier, feel a slight fondness for him.

Seeing that Touko actually acknowledged the relationship of being senior and junior, Shinji raised an eyebrow in surprise.

The address of "Senpai" was something Shinji used intentionally to bring them closer.

In reality, Shinji's studies and interests at the Clock Tower were completely different from Touko's. Strictly speaking, they were just alumni.

"I'm sorry about that."

Touko tapped her cigarette out in the ashtray, pushed her glasses up to her forehead, leaned back, and spoke with a casual tone, "If I had known that old geezer would be so disrespectful, I wouldn't have come. I apologize for disturbing your evening."

"It's okay. I've seen that old guy being grumpy for a while now," Shinji gave her a thumbs up, "He actually had the audacity to criticize my magecraft."

"Hey, hey, can you save that commentary for when I'm not around? After all, he's my grandfather," Touko scolded Shinji playfully, her eyes narrowed, "But I suppose that's just his style. I was kicked out of the family house because of our differing magecraft philosophies."

"He doesn't even consider you family. Senpai, are you seriously defending him?" Shinji shrugged his shoulders innocently and said, "Senpai, considering how he treats you, do you really want to speak up for him?"

Touko fell silent for a while, unable to refute Shinji's words.

Beep Beep

The sound of an email broke the silence between them.

Touko took out her phone, glanced at it, and stuffed it back into her pocket without bothering to reply.

"It's from my sister. She said she'll arrange a dinner for my grandfather, her, and me to have a proper conversation."

Seeing Shinji's inquiring gaze, Touko spoke nonchalantly.

"Does your sister have some kind of grudge against a certain restaurant?" Shinji jokes, "With the situation between you and your grandfather, having all of you together might just end up demolishing the restaurant."

"Hehe, you can't really say for sure," Touko chuckled lightly, "My sister has a knack for having unrealistic, naive ideas."

'No, maybe she really does have a grudge against a certain restaurant.'

Thinking of that red-haired beauty who had secretly given him a thumbs-up, Shinji felt that she wasn't someone who would just quietly behave.

"I think there's an 80% chance that you and Lord Aozaki will get into another argument when you meet again. And if you do, the situation will undoubtedly get worse."

Shinji rested his chin on his hands and looked at Aozaki Touko.

"Senpai, I suggest that it's best for you to resolve the issue at its root."

Feeling the intensity of Shinji's gaze, Touko couldn't shake off the feeling of being scrutinized.

'Could this kid have some ulterior motives towards me?'

Touko's guess was right; Shinji indeed had ulterior motives, but they weren't directed at her physical self.

"Senpai, it's well known that Lord Aozaki is obstinate. He will never heed your words and might even further spread negative perceptions about you to those around him. So, the best approach is to silence him."

"Are you suggesting I become a magus and shut him up forever?" Touko retorted.

Shinji calmly replied, "Given the current decline in mystery, the possibility of a new magus emerging is quite low. What I mean is that he loses his influence in the magecraft world."

Touko scoffed, "That's impossible."

Though she didn't like the old man, Touko was well aware of his standing in the magecraft world.

Even if he wasn't the best in the world, he was at least authoritative in the Far East.

"Who says it's impossible? If the magecraft world undergoes a transformation, reshuffling the current landscape, it's possible to shove those old relics into the garbage heap of history."

At this point, Shinji's eyes gleamed.

"Senpai, I have a plan..."

Shinji went on to explain his plan in detail.

However, he didn't emphasize his plans for the film and entertainment industry. Instead, he focused on the changes he intended to make in the magecraft world—making pragmatic magecraft the mainstream and squeezing out the survival space for old traditionalists like Lord Aozaki, rendering them powerless to manipulate.

Initially, Touko dismissed Shinji's plan as wishful thinking, deeming him to be overly imaginative. However, as she listened, her expression grew serious.

While Shinji's plan was still just a concept at this point, if it actually succeeded...

"Well, that's quite impressive," Touko mused, realizing something. She playfully tapped Shinji with her fingers.

"Junior, did you deliberately seek me out to have this conversation? Are you trying to lure Senpai into your thieving ship?"

"I'm serious," Shinji smiled, "I've wanted to invite the famed Touko-senpai for a while, but I never had the chance to get in touch with you. This time seemed opportune."

"Is that so..."

Touko toyed with the cigarette box in her hand, her expression contemplative.

With her own sources of information, Touko was well aware of what the Matou family and the magus of Fuyuki City had been up to recently. She believed in Shinji's plan.

However, Touko wasn't entirely sure about how far Shinji could go. Nonetheless, his plan was undeniably intriguing.

'Whatever, I might as well give it a try.'

Given Touko's age, she had plenty of time ahead of her. She could surely outlast that old geezer and achieve her own transformation one day.

But dancing on his grave wasn't as satisfying as confronting him while he was still alive.

Touko understood well that what would truly infuriate her grandfather wasn't her physically besting him, but rather the magecraft world collectively discrediting and ignoring him. This would be more discomforting for him than being killed.

'I bet the expression on the old man's face when he's rendered powerless will be quite a sight.'

Thinking about it, Touko unconsciously curled her lips into a smirk.

"Two years."

"Hmm?"

Shinji paused for a moment.

"I'll give you two years. If your plan doesn't show any progress within that time, I'll leave without hesitation."

Given Touko's current age, two years were easily expendable. Moreover, she was curious to see how far this ambitious junior could go.

"Of course, no problem."

Shinji immediately nodded in agreement.

If he couldn't achieve any significant results within two years, then it would only prove that he was incompetent.

Forget Touko, he himself might want to dig a hole and bury himself.

"Also, don't forget to pay me a salary," Touko provocatively smiled at Shinji, "I'm quite expensive, you know, as a Senpai."

"The compensation will definitely satisfy you, Senpai."

Shinji genuinely needed Touko, a highly skilled prop maker, to join his team.

Originally, this position was supposed to be occupied by Caster, Medea, but due to an error in summoning members of the Heroic Spirits, he and Caster had missed their perfect chance.

Fortunately, Fate/stay night had very few unique magecraft props to create, so Shinji managed to handle it. However, this might not be the case for the next film.

Touko's entry perfectly filled the gap in Shinji's current team for a prop designer.

"Well then, I'll be counting on you from now on, Senpai."

"I'll be counting on you too, Junior."

Shinji and Touko's hands shook in agreement.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

After the banquet, Shinji returned to Tokyo to resume the post-production work on Fate/stay night.

As for Touko, although she agreed to join Shinji's team, she didn't rush to move to Fuyuki City because she had some commissions to fulfill.

Shinji wasn't in a hurry since he was confident that Touko, with her character, wouldn't break her promise.

Currently, the post-production of Fate/stay night wasn't complete, and there wasn't even a new folder for the next movie's plan. Even if Touko joined, Shinji didn't have any work to assign to her.

Knowing that Touko herself would start in spring, Shinji focused all his energy on completing the post-production of Fate/stay night.

Before attending the banquet, Shinji had already completed a rough cut of the movie, but it was just the first step of the long post-production process.

Further editing, dubbing by the actors, selecting the soundtrack, and then sound editing—all of these required a significant amount of time and effort.

Since Shinji planned to turn this movie into the first major commercial production in this parallel world, his benchmark would undoubtedly be the high-quality films he had watched in his previous life, not the rough garbage.

The quality of a movie is directly proportional to the care taken during its production. Cutting corners and rushing through it won't yield a good film.

Diving into the work at Tsuburaya Studios, Shinji was fully absorbed, disregarding everything else. He even spent New Year's Eve in the studio working.

Even when Warner Bros. in the UK tried to contact him, wanting to discuss collaborating with North American distributors, he actively ignored them.

"You're worrying about making scrambled eggs before the chicken is even cooked? Such things are minor until the movie is completed."

Shinji's flag-setting was oblivious to the surprises that awaited him from Warner Bros.

During the post-production of FSN, the employees at Tsuburaya Studios provided substantial help to Shinji. While their film production philosophy might be outdated, their extensive experience offered Shinji valuable assistance and advice.

Finally, with Shinji and the rest of the post-production team's efforts, after a full two months, the post-production of FSN was essentially completed by early March 2003.

This meant that the crucial preview screening of FSN was just around the corner.

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