Fate/Zero

"By the way, it's time for all of you to head home."

Homura glanced at the time and addressed the girls engrossed in the game.

""Ehh?!""

Honoka, Rin, and Nico couldn't help but exclaim in disbelief.

"How is it already time? We've only played a little!" Honoka complained.

Homura was speechless.

"Do you realize we've spent dozens of hours on this plot alone? Just a couple of hours won't get us anywhere, right?"

Looking at them, still reluctant to move, Homura added.

"Seriously, just save the game. You can continue next time, right?"

After some indecision, they finally agreed and saved the game.

"Can we come here again tomorrow?"

Kotori, who was unusually silent, suddenly asked.

Upon hearing her question, the others fell silent.

"What do you mean? Do you like my place that much?" Homura asked with a teasing tone.

Girls: "..."

"Pffft, hahaha—!"

Yukiho couldn't hold her laugh, making everyone awkward.

Kotori blushed, wondering why she suddenly blurted out that question.

"You know, I should give you a few days off. Being overworked isn't good." Homura said with a smile.

"But what about the anime?" Umi asked.

Homura shook his head.

"Anime is more of a long-term thing, so there's no need to rush since we've got plenty of time."

"As for how many days..."

Homura pondered for a moment before nodding.

"How about a week off? What do you think?"

Hearing his suggestion, Muse exchanged glances and then nodded.

"However, don't forget about Sunday." Homura reminded them. 

"Don't worry, we won't forget!" Honoka nodded with enthusiasm.

"Alright, wait a sec."

Homura immediately sent the game's installation package to Shizuka's email.

"Alright, let's go!"

He called out, intending to discuss the details on the way.

===

After taking Muse and the two little sisters to their homes, Homura returned with Haru.

He glanced around the living room and found no sign of Megumi and the others, so he headed straight to the activity room.

"Hey, how's it going?"

Homura placed Haru on a mat and asked the scattered girls.

"Pretty good!" Eriri gave a thumbs up. "Even though I've heard Muse's voice acting before, the result turned out surprisingly great."

"Yeah, everyone seems to be working really hard, but I guess... Homura's vegetable juice played a part too?" Elf chimed in.

Upon hearing this, Homura raised an eyebrow.

'Are you still trying to lure people into drinking that vegetable juice?' Homura thought speechlessly.

"Wow, that's impressive..."

Eriri spoke in a flat tone and expression upon hearing Elf's words.

'Seriously, at this point, who are you trying to fool?'

Before long, Muramasa took Elf's spot in playing 'Fate/stay night', feeling the characters' conversations and stories created by herself and the others, complemented by Eriri and Sagiri's character designs, Mashiro and Izumi's original illustrations, and, crucially, the high-quality character voices by Homura and the others.

Every aspect was top-notch, and no one was lagging behind.

In Muramasa's eyes, this achieved geometrically greater effects than a simple story. With eyes gleaming and a radiant complexion, this was the ultimate enjoyment for her!

"With this, the second work of Another Dimension is finally done..." Homura declared with relief.

"But is it really done?" Megumi asked, tilting her head sideways. "When working on the anime, won't everyone still be busy?"

"More or less?" Utaha frowned. "It's just an adaptation, after all."

"Senpai, when are you planning to announce the anime?" Nayuta inquired eagerly.

"Hmm..." Homura pondered. "Maybe on Monday? We should give everyone some time to understand the game first so they'll anticipate the anime more, right?"

"Homura-kun always understands the fans so well." Nanami remarked.

Upon hearing this, Homura smiled.

"Rather than understanding them, it's simply because I'm the number one fan of Another Dimension." Homura shrugged. "I design it based on how I want it to be, after all."

"Heh, if you put it that way, aren't we all the same?" Eriri chuckled.

"Yeah, who doesn't love their own work?" Homura nodded. "However, once it's announced, we'll probably get back to it in a few days. Now that I think about it, the timing of the break for Honoka and the others is actually perfect. By the time their break is over, we'll be starting up again."

"Anime, huh... my workload will be greatly reduced then..." Elf sighed with pity. 

Although she said this, it didn't mean her tasks related to the anime were nonexistent. She still needed to consider the logical flow of the anime and determine if any modifications were necessary.

After all, anime and visual novels were different.

Of course, the primary responsibility of the writers remained supervision. If there were issues with the anime that didn't correlate with the original source, they needed to be examined and addressed promptly.

On the contrary, the artists' tasks were sky-high, almost as demanding as those of mangaka or doujin artists nearing their deadlines.

However, having Homura with them made things relatively easier.

After hearing Elf's words, Homura pondered for a moment before turning to her.

"If you really have nothing to do, working on the world-building for Fate wouldn't be a bad idea. Stories about various mages around the world, or maybe stuff from parallel worlds, plus a prequel wouldn't hurt either. After all, with so many loose ends, I bet a lot of people are curious about the Fourth Holy Grail War, right? Moreover, you all have your own novels to write, don't you? There's always something to keep you busy."

As the four writers responsible for the script and story listened to his lengthy speech, they exchanged confused glances.

"Here, take a look."

Homura tossed out another work project, this one about the Fourth Holy Grail War, which was none other than 'Fate/Zero'.

However, he wasn't in a hurry, nor did he need to be.

With so much on their plate, perhaps the writers had already finished several portions of the script for 'Fate/Zero' even when the anime of 'Fate/stay night' wasn't even finished yet.

Attracted by the new work, everyone forgot about playing 'Fate/stay night' and gathered around to take a look.

"Homura... did you plan this long ago? How else would these works come one after another?"

Elf couldn't help but ask with a bewildered tone.

"Sort of..." Homura shrugged. "Originally, if I hadn't met you and Muramasa, I planned to make an anime movie about the sakura flower. Utaha-senpai and the others know about it."

Elf and Muramasa looked at Utaha, who nodded, confirming that it was indeed true.

"Just because we met you?"

Elf pointed at herself, then at Muramasa.

"Yeah, if I didn't cater to your interests, how would you guys join? When you see talented people, you have to adjust your plans accordingly."

"..."

As Homura's words landed, there was a moment of silence, and after a while, Muramasa spoke calmly.

"Pervert... but it turned out well..."

Homura: "..."

It was indeed a peculiar way of putting it.

He must admit that Muramasa had changed a bit since when they first met.

After a while, the writers discussed how to proceed with the new work and when to start, but since Homura told them there was no rush, they didn't plan to hurry.

Even so, as Homura looked at Muramasa, who had a peculiar gleam in her eyes, he understood that they might need to speed up due to her high enthusiasm.