NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 91: Chapter 93: Arturia 'Talk'
Speaking of which, EMIYA has always had a conflicted attitude towards "Shirou Emiya."
Logically, this parallel world's Shirou Emiya wouldn't follow his own path, which should make him happy.
But when he actually encountered a Shirou Emiya who didn't want to become a "hero," EMIYA felt extremely displeased. He always thought this Shirou Emiya was missing something.
Shirou felt similarly. Perhaps because he spent so much time with Shinji, he always felt that this white-haired, red-clad Heroic Spirit had problematic views, not seeming like a normal person.
Glancing at his watch, Shinji said, "Let's call it a day. There's a party tonight hosted by the Time Group. Don't forget."
"Don't worry, Master. I'll be there earlier than anyone else," Cu Chulainn said with a smile.
As previously mentioned to Kariya and the others, the Time Group was hosting a party in Fuyuki City to celebrate the success of FSN and Fate/Zero.
Of course, as a formal party, it wasn't going to be a decadent entertainment industry bash, but a very formal dinner party.
The Time Group had invited not only Shinji as a representative of the Type-Moon series but also several representatives from North American production teams and local Japanese entertainment industry figures.
In essence, this party was the Time Group's way of announcing their intention to develop business in Japan.
However, the Time Group wasn't interested in Japan's already over-saturated market; they were just outsourcing some of their film production to Japan.
Thus, the Japanese entertainment industry welcomed the Time Group, as they weren't competing for the same market. In fact, there was hope that local actors could use this opportunity to break into the Western market.
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The boundless night enveloped Fuyuki City, and the lights from the hotel illuminated the rooftop garden as if it were daylight.
The banquet venue was the garden of the Hyatt Hotel in Fuyuki City.
Yes, the same building Kiritsugu blew up in Fate/Zero.
In this world, without the Holy Grail War, this luxurious hotel had only thrived and even opened an annex beside the original hotel.
Though the annex only had six floors, it was far more upscale than the main building, with more luxurious decor, more extravagant facilities, more attentive service, and higher costs.
The Time Group had chosen the rooftop garden of this annex to host this important banquet.
The guests invited by Cloris were mingling around the pool, garden pavilion, and dining tables, chatting in small groups.
As the local host of Fuyuki City, half-host, Shinji had just escorted a group of guests to rest at the hotel downstairs.
These were members of one of the film crews brought to Fuyuki City by the Time Group. After attending the formal dinner, they excused themselves for filming reasons.
"My apologies, Director Matou."
The director of the crew apologized, "I still have things to handle with the crew, so I'll take my leave first. I'm very grateful for your help."
"Don't mention it," Shinji said with a smile. "I'm just doing my part for the betterment of Fuyuki City's film industry."
"Thank you so much." The director waved at Shinji and smiled at Arturia standing beside him. "We'll take our leave now. Pendragon-san, I hope we can collaborate in the future."
Since this was a formal dinner party and not an indecent strip party, it wouldn't last too long.
Basically, after 9 PM, guests began to leave one after another. Even Kariya left with Nao.
After seeing off the film crew, Shinji and Arturia headed to the backyard.
Out of the intention to help his star actress build connections, Shinji had chosen Arturia as his companion for the evening.
"Master… It seems you are quite interested in that film crew, is there any particular reason for that? you even decided to invest," Arturia asked curiously.
"It's quite simple, really."
Shinji shrugged. "Horror movies rarely lose money."
Arturia frowned slightly. "But Master, you said you didn't understand horror films?"
From the recent conversation, when the other party asked Shinji how to make movies, Arturia clearly heard Shinji express his lack of knowledge.
Shinji spread his hands in resignation and said, "American horror movies aren't my strong suit. Besides jump scares, I don't really understand much."
When it came to horror movies, Shinji had a clearer understanding of the atmospheric horror films typical of Japanese style, but he hadn't done much research on the violent blood and gore films typical of American style.
"You invested even though you don't know about it?"
"I don't know how to make movies, but I know this type of movie won't lose money."
As Shinji spoke, he linked arms with Arturia and walked past the pavilion towards the swimming pool.
Thanks to the generally low production costs of American splatter films, it was quite difficult for these movies to lose money.
In the film industry, these low-budget horror movies were a bit like systematic investment in a bank; there was almost no risk, just low returns.
Of course, it wasn't impossible to make big money, but the probability was about the same as winning the lottery.
Despite there being a few American horror movies each year that made hundreds of millions at the box office, these films were all meticulously marketed by the film companies, with most of them spending far more on marketing than on production costs.
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At a table by the pool, there were quite a few people gathered around. Iskandar, Gilgamesh, Yan Qing, Enkidu, and Cu Chulainn were standing or sitting nearby, cheering and encouraging.
Two hotel servers each carried a crate of beer and brought it over.
In the center of the crowd were Lancelot and Diarmuid, facing each other, each holding a beer and seemingly engaged in a drinking contest.
Lancelot finished his drink first, knocked the glass bottle on the table, and said loudly, "Come on, let's continue!"
Immediately, a waiter hurriedly brought a new bottle of beer to him, and Lancelot, unafraid of cutting his mouth, opened the bottle cap with his teeth and chugged it down in one go.
Diarmuid, facing Lancelot, didn't show a panicked expression but calmly finished his own bottle of beer.
"I'm on my twelfth, you're only on your eleventh."
After calmly stating the numbers, Diarmuid picked up a new bottle of beer and continued drinking.
Shinji chuckled, "What are these two Knights doing? Are they arguing over whose monarch's wife is prettier or something? Oh my."
Arturia gave Shinji a playful nudge.
"Don't think I don't know what you're talking about," Arturia glared at Shinji, "They're both honorable knights, not as petty as you think."
"Drinking heavily isn't a virtue of knights," Shinji reminded.
"I know that," Arturia said helplessly, "But this isn't their first drinking contest."
"They've had one before?"
"Ever since they finished off the Matou family's wine cellar, they haven't had another."
Upon hearing this answer, Shinji's face darkened.
"Damn... no wonder Grandpa's face looked as if Grandma crawled out of her coffin."
Due to an unpleasant drunken memory in America, Shinji voluntarily blocked information about alcohol after returning to Japan.
However, Shinji was aware that the Matou family had an underground wine cellar where several generations of Matou family heads had stored fine wines.
From Arturia's words, it seemed those fine wines wouldn't be passed down to Shinji's generation.
"What a waste! Don't they know how expensive those wines are?! Why don't they just go buy beer from the supermarket?!" Shinji couldn't help but complain.
It wasn't that Shinji was upset about not being able to drink; he was upset that those wines were quite valuable.
Arturia, feeling a bit embarrassed, awkwardly touched her nose.
She was also involved in emptying the Matou family's wine cellar, though not as the main culprit, but she had drunk a few bottles too.
To be honest, not a single Knight is a lightweight when it comes to alcohol.
It's not that they can't handle their liquor, but when there's good booze around, it's sure to disappear.
"I'll go talk to them."
Afraid that Shinji would notice her strange expression, Arturia quickly approached the two who were still drinking.
Then, the King of Knights grabbed the empty bottle on the table and swung it towards Lancelot's head.
Crack!
The bottle shattered, Lancelot blinked twice, then with a splash, he fell into the pool.
"You've had too much to drink, Sir Lancelot," Arturia said expressionlessly, placing the bottle aside. "Rest up."
"I've lectured him, Master."
Arturia calmly returned to Shinji's side.
"What kind of lecture was that?"
Arturia spread her hands, looking at Shinji, and said seriously, "The fastest way is to use physical means. That's what you taught me, Master."
Shinji was taken aback and pointed to his misbehaved Hero.
Arturia smirked cunningly in response, "I should incorporate Alter's mindset into my daily life; it helps with acting. That's what you said, Master."
"I'll go get some food over there."
Shinji rolled his eyes and turned away.
He heard Iskandar's exaggerated laughter behind him.
Clearly, the King of Conquerors noticed everything.
Shinji raised his right hand, flicking up his middle finger, but when he saw Kariya walking over, he quickly put it down.
"Uncle, why are you back? Aren't you supposed to be with Udagawa-san?" Shinji teased, squinting.
"I have something to discuss with you." Kariya's expression was slightly tense, and his smile seemed forced. "Well, Shinji, I have a friend who had—"
"Let me guess, that 'friend' of yours encountered difficulties in his relationship?"
Shinji patted Kariya's shoulder.
"Uncle, I know that you are talking about yourself."
"It's not me!"
Kariya denied loudly.
Shinji continued to tease, "No need to be embarrassed. I understand women's matters. Let me tell you, regarding Udagawa-san—"
"It really isn't me."
Kariya's expression was speechless, almost on the verge of tears.
"I have a friend who needs to talk to you; he's already here."
"Huh? Someone's looking for me?"
Just as Shinji was dazed, a slightly chubby middle-aged man with glasses walked up and grabbed his hands.
"Shinji-sama! For the sake of our grandfathers' friendship, please help me!"
"Sa-sama?"
Shinji's expression stiffened.
He recognized this man; he was Kazuo Tsuburaya, the former president of Tsuburaya Productions.
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