Chapter 47: Wise words, Cloris-sama

                              

Chapter 47: Wise words, Cloris-sama

What exactly had happened in that empty classroom that day—neither Shinji nor Cloris ever told a soul.

But ever since that incident, although Shinji still roamed the halls of the Clock Tower like a bored ghost, he and Cloris were never seen together again.

Strangely enough, the ones most affected by this fallout weren’t the two of them, but rather Waver and Kayneth.

Cloris had originally come to discuss collaboration matters with them, and now she spent most of her time holed up in the Department of Modern Magecraft.

This, quite miraculously, significantly reduced the frequency of Shinji’s harassment visits.

To outsiders, Shinji’s return to the Clock Tower looked more like a chaotic tour. He wandered through every department, chatting people up—left, right, and center.

And if his previous stunt of confessing to every single girl in the Clock Tower hadn’t been enough, this time he wasn’t even sparing the boys!

Thankfully, Shinji himself was blissfully unaware of how people saw him.

Because if he had known, he would’ve made them all engrave the name “Kind and Gentle Shinji-kun” into their very DNA.

Of course, Shinji’s reason for going around “flirting” was far more practical than people assumed.

He was recruiting—or more accurately, luring—soon-to-graduate magi to come work in Fuyuki.

Besides Ophelia, who had already been internally hired as his secretary, quite a few young talents were now firmly in his pocket.

The only real regret he had was missing the chance to snatch up Goredolf Musik.

Though he did manage to track the man down later, the portly alchemist had politely declined, citing family obligations.

Still, he left the door open for possible collaboration in the future.

As the large-scale Western release of Fate/Stay Night drew closer, Shinji finally stopped his wandering and settled down to wait for the box office results of the first screenings.

During this downtime, the only public event he attended was Ophelia’s academic presentation, a small internal seminar within the Department of Spiritual Evocation.

Even though the crowd was sparse and Ophelia, newly arrived from Germany, was visibly nervous—her content was brilliant.

Her theories on the variable forms of Heroic Spirit Saint Graphs sparked a number of ideas in Shinji’s mind.

“…I think I made a mistake.”

After the presentation, Lord Rufleus Nuada-Re Eulyphis, Lord of the Department of Spiritual Evocation, approached Shinji.

“She’s far more talented than I expected. I should’ve held onto her.”

“She came with me of her own will, old man,” Shinji replied flatly. “If you overlooked a gem, don’t blame me for picking it up.”

Unlike his respect for Touko’s teacher, Shinji had very little goodwill for the man standing before him.

To him, Rufleus was a living relic—the poster child of noble elitism and bloodline supremacy, a stubborn dinosaur who clung to outdated traditions.

He was, in short, the quintessential “stuffy old man” in Shinji’s eyes.

Not to mention, this was the same guy who had once publicly mocked Makiri Zolgen—Shinji’s ancestor—by holding up his research on Heroic Spirit summoning and calling him a delusional dreamer.

Unforgivable.

Not only had he ridiculed a legendary researcher, he’d even leaked the Matou family’s greatest secret to the whole damn Clock Tower!

“Tell me, boy,” Rufleus continued, as if unaware of Shinji’s icy tone.

“Have you ever considered forming a long-term partnership with our Department of Spiritual Evocation? As your influence grows, your summoning techniques will surely face scrutiny and imitation. You’ll need allies to refine and guard your system, won’t you?”

“I’m already working with the El-Melloi faction,” Shinji replied bluntly.

“Oh, let’s not be so rigid.”

Rufleus’s smile didn’t reach his eyes.

“I know you bear some grudge against me. But you must realize—the path of Mystery is paramount to all magi. In the face of such noble pursuit, shouldn’t personal grievances take a back seat?”

‘What is this, a Xianxia sect negotiation?’

Shinji’s eyelid twitched violently.

He seriously considered putting this dusty old fossil into a chokehold—right here in the hallway.

Luckily, salvation came in the form of a certain eyepatch-wearing girl.

“Herr Shinji!”

Ophelia had come to find him, still buzzing from her talk.

Seizing the opportunity, Shinji nodded politely at Rufleus.

“I’ll consider your offer. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have other matters to attend to.”

And with that, he briskly walked off with Ophelia at his side—leaving one of the Clock Tower’s most powerful men blinking behind his glasses.

After those parting words, Shinji gave a slight bow and made his way toward Ophelia.

When she saw him coming, her shoulders visibly relaxed, and a soft smile bloomed across her face.

“Herr Matou!”

“Huh? Still calling me Herr?” Shinji asked with a teasing grin.

Ophelia tilted her head, slightly puzzled, and tried a new title with a hint of clumsy earnestness.

“Then… Mein Herr Matou?”

“Ugh…”

Shinji sucked in a sharp breath.

“Alright, forget it. Just call me boss, that’ll do.”

Despite a flicker of glee dancing in his chest, Shinji decided to keep his dignity intact by opting for a more reasonable form of address.

“Understood, boss.”

Ophelia immediately adjusted her speech without protest.

“Good. Let’s head out.”

With a casual wave, Shinji turned and began walking toward the Department of Modern Magecraft.

“Boss, where are we going?” Ophelia asked quickly, clutching her research notes as she hurried to catch up.

“We’re going to sit on a server and play some games.”

“Eh?”

His answer left Ophelia completely baffled.

Fortunately, a few minutes later, she understood exactly what he meant.

In the Department of Modern Magecraft’s conference room, the air was tense and heavy with anticipation. Shinji, Kayneth, Waver, Touko, Cloris, and various family representatives of other magi factions were all gathered around a massive round table.

As Shinji’s newly appointed secretary, Ophelia naturally didn’t have a seat. She stood obediently behind him, notebook and pen at the ready.

Everyone wore a solemn expression, eyes fixed expectantly on Cloris—except for Touko, who was leaning back in her chair, puffing on a cigarette with one leg casually slung over the other, even tossing a playful wave at Ophelia.

For her, most of what would be discussed about Fate/Stay Night had little to do with her work.

Once everyone had settled, Cloris stood up and got straight to business.

“The opening weekend box office for Fate/Stay Night has been finalized. For clarity, I’ve converted all figures into USD…”

She cast a quick glance toward the British mages, as if testing the waters.

Kayneth gave a neutral nod.

“Miss Flora, go ahead. USD makes the metrics easier to understand anyway.”

Truth be told, Kayneth did feel a tiny bit miffed that pounds sterling weren’t being used instead.

But considering that not everyone here was British—and that mages from other nations were involved—it made sense to use a common unit.

Not much he could say.

Cloris, unfazed by Kayneth’s unspoken grumbling, cleared her throat and began reading from the document in her hand.

“North America: $50.63 million. UK: $6.89 million. France: $5.87 million. Germany: $7.52 million. Spain: $3.21 million. Australia: $3.11 million—Total first-round release revenue has surpassed $72 million.”

A wave of murmurs and gasps swept through the room.

Everyone was visibly stunned by the impressive numbers.

The surprise, admiration—even envy—was palpable.

Everyone except Shinji, who remained oddly calm.

If anything, he looked… slightly disappointed.

It wasn’t that the numbers were bad—he had expected Fate/Stay Night to do well, especially given the buzz from the film festivals.

But only $50 million in North America?

It wasn’t a failure by any means—solid, even.

But compared to Hollywood juggernauts from the same era… it fell short of the truly top-tier.

‘Looks like I’ve got some market-building to do,’ Shinji mused, only to be pulled out of his thoughts by the quiet murmuring around him.

“To think it earned this much…”

“I wonder how much the final box office total will be?”

“Looks like we won’t have to worry about our research budget this year.”

…

Though all of them ultimately sought the path of mystery, reaching that path required an enormous amount of money.

For the past two years, they had poured in funds, pulled strings, and assembled their talents in this once-overlooked Modern Magecraft Department—all for the paradise Shinji Matou had promised them.

A fertile land where money flowed and the rules could be rewritten.

“Bunch of uncultured yokels,” Shinji muttered under his breath, shaking his head.

“Yeah, their vision only stretches that far,” he added with a sigh.

Standing behind him, Ophelia overheard his words. Rather than be shocked by the sharpness of his tone, she was struck with admiration.

‘To remain so calm after achieving something this grand… Boss really is amazing…’

After the excitement of the box office figures had subsided, the meeting moved on to what Shinji cheerfully referred to as “homework.”

“I’m sure you’re all aware I’m preparing to shoot the second film,” Shinji announced, resting his chin on both hands. “It’ll continue the Holy Grail War storyline, so I’ll be needing some help collecting the catalysts for summoning. I’ve listed the Servants we plan to summon this time.”

As he spoke, Ophelia swiftly began handing out packets of documents to everyone present.

“Along with the catalysts, the list also includes some of the magical technologies we might need during the next shoot.”

Compared to Fate/Stay Night, the scale of Fate/Zero was far greater, and that meant more elaborate scenes and far more complex production challenges.

If they wanted the magical effects to look high-quality, they’d need more than just better spells—they’d need state-of-the-art effects.

“I’ve already recruited a few magus here at the Clock Tower,” Shinji continued, “but solving all these technical issues in three months with just them? Not happening. So I’m asking each of you to send a few people from your families to help. Together, they’ll form a specialized tech team.”

This “tech team” was, in Shinji’s mind, the prototype of his future special effects studio—one that would one day lead the world in both magical and computer-generated effects.

Next, Shinji gestured toward Touko, who was still leaning back lazily.

“This team will be led by Miss Aozaki Touko. Its mission will be to tackle all the technical hurdles involved in movie production. Any breakthroughs will be credited to the individuals involved—but the profits from their application will go to the Modern Magecraft Department, helping it grow.”

While magecraft was usually considered a highly personal art, some chose to share their techniques publicly—especially group-developed spells. Once disclosed, such techniques became part of the Clock Tower’s public archive.

But “public” didn’t mean “free.” Anyone who wanted to use these shared techniques would have to pay.

Hearing that the profits would go to the department, some of the family reps instinctively frowned and looked like they wanted to object.

But the moment they glanced at Kayneth—his quiet presence radiating an unspoken authority—they silently swallowed their protests.

No one wanted to clash with their patron over something this petty.

“Lastly, we mustn’t relax when it comes to publicity,” Cloris suddenly spoke up, shifting the meeting’s tone once more.

“Fate/Stay Night’s poor reception among critics didn’t stop it from becoming a hit this time—but that doesn’t mean it’ll work again. Film critics still have sway, especially when it comes to media coverage.”

“So to counteract them, we must build our own platform! If critics won’t support us, then we’ll let the audience be our voice!”

“We—Time Group—have already launched a dedicated movie review website. I want all of you to pull your media strings to boost its presence and credibility in the public eye!”

“Just like how the Department Head left that rotting pile of stone that was Mineralogy and built a new legacy here—we’ll build our own media ecosystem, from the ground up!”

Cloris’s voice rang with the passion of a true believer.

And as everyone around the table absorbed her words, Shinji quietly curled his lips into a smirk.

“Tch… She’s just parroting my lines.” (in Japanese)

The room went dead silent.

Everyone heard it.

Cloris narrowed her eyes, her voice suddenly sharp and cold.

“Shinji… what was that you just said?”

Without missing a beat, Shinji met her gaze and replied, face calm and composed.

“I said—Wise words, Cloris-sama.”

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