I'm Not A Master, I'm A Director
Chapter 373: He's This Cute, There's No Way He Could Be a Boy!
Faced with two women locked in open hostilities, anyone with even a shred of emotional intelligence—and who wasn't a complete airhead like Astolfo—knew better than to jump in.
Still, letting the two of them keep arguing wasn't an option either. Shishigou had no intention of becoming collateral damage when his Servant inevitably lost her temper, especially since Mordred was already starting to lose ground in the verbal battle.
As for Amakusa, he didn't want this pointless squabbling to continue either.
He still had plans to subtly influence Jeanne's thinking. If the conversation stayed stuck in meaningless bickering, how was he supposed to activate his persuasion skills?
Thus, in an unspoken, not-quite-coordinated moment of agreement, both Shishigou and Amakusa steered the topic toward the Holy Grail War itself.
"So," Shishigou said, "what kind of wish would you make once you got the Grail?"
On the surface, Fate/Apocrypha was about the Mage's Association suppressing the Yggdmillennia family's rebellion—but the Grail itself still retained its wish-granting function.
"My wish…"
Amakusa smiled lightly, almost jokingly.
"I suppose it would be to save everyone."
Despite his casual tone, this was the truest expression of his desire.
Even in idle conversation, Amakusa had no intention of compromising on this point. It was a wish that had defined two lifetimes.
To the others in the car, the ideal sounded naïve.
Even Jeanne, a fellow Christian, didn't believe that everyone could be saved—not even by the Holy Grail.
Yet outside the screen, the audience didn't laugh at Amakusa's dream.
Before Fate/Apocrypha, there had already been two painfully idealistic men who had made nearly the same wish.
The moment viewers recalled the tragic endings of Kiritsugu and Archer, it became impossible to dismiss Amakusa's words with a chuckle.
Both of those men had sacrificed everything for the sake of others. They loved the world more than anyone else and desperately wanted to save people.
And yet, both of them walked straight toward destruction.
Because of Kiritsugu's and Archer's tragedies, the audience found it difficult to feel any dislike toward Amakusa for voicing such a wish.
What about Emiya Shirou, you ask?
Fans who had watched Prisma☆Illya answered in unison:
Why should we pity a guy who's constantly surrounded by girls and enjoying a sweet-and-sour school romance life?!
"Saving everyone… yeah, that really is a Fate protagonist's signature wish."
"This guy really does feel like the main character."
Even Li Ri'ang began to suspect that his earlier misgivings about Amakusa might have been overthinking things.
A man who genuinely wanted to save everyone—how could he possibly be a bad guy?
Of course, goodwill was goodwill. That didn't stop Li Ri'ang from harboring a fair amount of envy, jealousy, and resentment.
This bastard had a voluptuous Arturia on his left, a tomboy Arturia on his right, and even an Astolfo.
That kind of god-tier party composition was enough to make any man seethe with envy, wasn't it?!
Sure, neither of them was the original King of Knights—but it was the same face at least!
And with completely different body types, that was double the happiness. What more could you possibly ask for?!
And yet, despite having such an absurdly blessed situation, this Kotomine Shirou maintained strict courtesy toward both blonde beauties from start to finish.
Unaware of the true relationship between Amakusa and the Empress, Li Ri'ang privately slapped the label "low emotional intelligence" onto Amakusa.
'Ah… if only I had an opportunity like that…'
'I'd probably have kids and grandkids by now…'
Today, as always, Li Ri'ang was lost in a daydream that belonged to him alone.
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Of course, whether Li Ri'ang's overly inflated fantasies were right or wrong aside, his judgment about Amakusa's emotional intelligence wasn't exactly incorrect.
After all, in the relationship between the Empress and Amakusa, it was the Empress who had been proactive from beginning to end. Calling Amakusa a block of wood would honestly be praising him.
Emiya Shirou at least possessed the desires one would expect of a teenage boy.
Amakusa, this so-called "saint," was more like the kind of person who'd have food placed directly into his mouth and still wouldn't bother to move his jaw.
A truly lazy dog of purity.
One could only say that, when it came to love, anyone with the title "Empress" always seemed to fall for wooden blocks who had zero interest in them.
Perhaps this was what people meant by a natural counter to onee-sans.
At the very least, whenever the camera cut over to the Empress, she would always murmur something along the lines of, "Everything is proceeding according to that person's plan."
Meanwhile, on Amakusa's side, his mind was completely occupied with how to mess with Jeanne's head. The Empress barely crossed his thoughts at all.
Just as Amakusa was successfully stoking Jeanne's suspicions toward the Yggdmillennia family, the car they were riding in was suddenly struck by a beam of light.
Black faction's Chiron and Stheno had arrived in pursuit—the very scene the audience had been eagerly waiting for ever since the preview.
The reason the centaur and the goddess had come after Jeanne's group was simple. Upon learning that the Ruler was heading toward their base, the Yggdmillennia Master had reacted instinctively.
Amakusa had been slightly wrong when deceiving Jeanne: as a Heroic Spirit, the Lord Impaler despised the idea of becoming a vampire. As long as there was even the slightest alternative, he would never willingly turn himself into a monster.
But Amakusa hadn't been wrong either.
Whether an Ultra Beast felt pain was up to the director of the Land of Light's meat factory—and whether the Lord Impaler became a vampire was entirely up to his Master.
The Lord Impaler's Master was Darnic Prestone Yggdmillennia. A man capable of cozying up to the Fuhrer himself, Darnic had never once behaved like a human being when it came to not being human.
Although, due to his own Japanese nationality, Shinji tactfully avoided including any explicit setting about the Yggdmillennia family collaborating with the Nazis, Darnic's characterization as someone who would stop at nothing for the Grail remained intact.
In Darnic's calculations, sending out two Black faction Servants—combined with their insider Astolfo already in the car—meant a three-versus-two advantage no matter how you looked at it.
If they could capture the Ruler and strip away the Command Spells granted to her by the Greater Grail, the Yggdmillennia faction might just have a chance to turn the tables.
Darnic knew full well that the Black faction was currently at a disadvantage.
Out of seven Servants, only three remained, and their strongest trump card—Vlad Tepes—had been beaten down to critical condition by "Old Man Li."
And the Red faction? They also only had three Servants left, but all of them were in excellent fighting shape. No matter how you looked at it, the Red side held the advantage.
Especially since that extra Ruler now seemed to be "blowing a black whistle" and showing bias toward the Red faction—at least from Darnic's point of view.
"Submit quietly, Ruler!"
Chiron drew his bow, arrow aimed squarely at Jeanne.
"Don't underestimate me!"
Mordred, furious at being ignored, charged forward, swinging her sword in an attempt to cut the centaur down.
The result was predictable.
Limited to close-range combat, Mordred was effortlessly kited by Chiron and Stheno, like a dog being taken for a walk.
If not for the fact that she was female—rendering Stheno's charm ineffective—Mordred would likely have been crowd-controlled and burst down on the spot by the two long-range attackers.
In a sense, the pairing of Chiron and Stheno was the natural nemesis of almost all male melee Servants. Unless one possessed powerful Magic Resistance or specialized skills or Noble Phantasms, there was simply no way to get in close.
Stheno and Euryale truly lived up to their reputation as anti-male weapons. Just recalling how Euryale hard-countered Gawain in FGO's Camelot Singularity, or bullied Heracles with his Twelve Labors, was enough to remind anyone of how helpless men were before this pair.
While Chiron and Stheno kept Mordred pinned down, Darnic used a special method to contact Astolfo inside the car, ordering him to launch a surprise attack on Jeanne.
In the mind of the old schemer Darnic, Astolfo was one of theirs. Of course he would obey his Master's command.
But—
"No way! You despicable villain!"
Astolfo rejected the order with unwavering resolve.
"Rider! What do you think you're doing, Rider?!"
Darnic roared in fury. "No matter how you look at it, winning the Holy Grail War is what matters most!"
"I refuse!" Astolfo shouted.
"I, Astolfo, one of Charlemagne's Twelve Paladins, am a knight of justice! How could I do something so despicable?!"
"Y-you—!"
Darnic was livid.
At that moment, he shared the same pain as a certain Clock Tower Lord from another timeline.
"Rider, are you trying to destroy the Yggdmillennia family's long-cherished wish for the Holy Grail?!"
Darnic demanded in a low voice. "Do you have any idea how much our chances of victory would increase if we captured the Ruler?"
"I don't know!" Astolfo shot back without hesitation. "All I know is that a knight of justice should never ambush someone!"
"And you—Lancer's Master," Astolfo continued, voice rising, "I heard that when you're about to lose, you plan to turn Lancer into a vampire and infect the entire city. Is that true?!"
Instead of answering the command, Astolfo turned the accusation back on Darnic.
"That would merely be a necessary sacrifice to win the Holy Grail," Darnic replied loudly without the slightest hesitation.
"That kind of victory has no meaning at all!" Astolfo shouted.
"As heroes, how can we build our victory on the sacrifice of ordinary people?!"
"Insignificant humans can't possibly be compared to the Yggdmillennia family's grand ambition," Darnic sneered.
"To give their lives for the Yggdmillennia family is an honor!"
"Oh, is that so?!"
Astolfo stomped his foot hard and declared,
"Then I'm leaving the Black faction! I, as a Knight of Charlemagne, swear to stop your scheme!"
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"This scene is surprisingly interesting," Kayneth muttered to himself.
"That pink-haired little girl may be an idiot, but that kind of uprightness… it's oddly hard to dislike."
Hearing his teacher say this, Waver cast him a strange look.
"What?" Kayneth asked sharply. "Do you have some objection to what I said?"
"Nothing…"
Waver replied casually. He subconsciously reached for a cigar, then remembered he was in a movie theater and awkwardly lowered his hand.
"Are you looking down on me, boy?"
Guessing what Waver was thinking, Kayneth lifted his chin proudly.
"I get it—you're wondering when I started believing in knightly ideals, aren't you?"
"Let me tell you, I used to think so-called chivalry was just empty hypocrisy."
"But I'm different now."
"After interacting with those Heroic Spirits, I realized I really was shallow before. Living only for profit isn't enough—people need principles too."
At this point, Kayneth smiled smugly.
"Your teacher grows as well, Waver."
To that, Waver calmly replied, "Professor… I just wanted to remind you that the pink-haired Astolfo is canonically male."
"…What?!"
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Setting aside the fact that Kayneth was currently questioning his entire worldview because of Astolfo's gender—
After a brief but intense exchange, Chiron and Stheno ultimately chose to retreat.
If they had won this fight, the Black faction's advantage would have been immense. But if even one of Chiron or Stheno were counter-killed, the Black side would have no hope of turning things around.
Watching the centaur disappear into the distance, the protagonist group quickly left the busy area. The earlier battle had already drawn far too much attention.
Jeanne had wanted to pursue the two Servants and get clear answers from them, but unfortunately, her two legs were no match for Chiron's four. Left with no choice, she could only give up.
On the surface, the battle seemed like little more than a farce—the Black Servants fought briefly, then hastily withdrew, and Jeanne's side suffered no casualties.
In reality, Shinji had used this fight to showcase most of the abilities of the five-member party, letting the audience visually grasp their combat styles.
Everyone except Amakusa, that is.
As for the reason… well, those who knew, knew.
Although Jeanne's group had lost their vehicle and most of their luggage, Trifas was a modern town. As long as you had money, none of that was a real problem.
Shishigou spent some cash and checked everyone into a hotel to rest, planning to head for the Yggdmillennia castle later that night.
After entering the hotel, both Jeanne and Mordred changed into casual clothes completely different from what they'd worn during the day. Mordred even adjusted her hairstyle, making her look noticeably more fashionable overall.
"Man, this movie is basically an Arturia fashion show, isn't it?"
Shibamatsu muttered under his breath.
Even though Arturia herself never appeared in this film, longtime fans felt her presence everywhere thanks to the relationship between Jeanne and Mordred.
It wasn't just because their identities naturally reminded people of Arturia—but also because their faces, so strikingly similar to the King of Knights', made such associations unavoidable.
And this wasn't entirely a bad thing.
In Fate/Apocrypha, both Mordred and Jeanne changed outfits with remarkable frequency. Through the two of them, the audience was finally compensated for Arturia's chronic lack of wardrobe variety in previous adaptations—at least up to this point.
After all, since her debut, Jeanne—this film's heroine—had already gone through several different outfits.
Not only was every single one pleasing to the eye, she even wore pajamas the audience had never seen Arturia wear before.
In a sense, this costume rotation was even more eye-catching than Jeanne's acting itself.
It wasn't just about showing off her looks either. Shinji had deliberately added a small habit for Jeanne—snacking while reading—which significantly boosted audience affection toward her.
Setting everything else aside, just the image of Jeanne reading a book while casually eating Ferrero chocolates was enough to make Shibamatsu crave the chocolate in her hand.
Of course, this kind of design choice had its downsides.
Because their faces and character archetypes were so similar, Jeanne and Mordred had gradually become a sort of stand-in Arturia in the minds of the audience.
That said, Fate/Apocrypha wasn't lacking in new characters who left an unforgettable impression.
And that character was—without question—Astolfo the adorable.
The moment Astolfo appeared fresh out of the shower, with nothing but a towel wrapped around him, the entire theater erupted.
"OOOOOOOOOOOH!!" × N
Faced with towel-clad Astolfo, the audience reacted exactly the same way Jeanne did on screen—
They screamed.
Many people didn't even know why they were screaming. They just knew they had to vent the excitement swelling inside them.
Otherwise, some deeply dangerous thoughts might slip out of control.
"This is like… seeing the world for the first time," Shibamatsu sighed internally.
Sure, everyone already knew before the movie that Astolfo was canonically male.
But knowing it in theory and seeing it with your own eyes were two completely different experiences.
'I knew Shinji Matou always made his heroines absurdly pretty… but I didn't expect him to be this good at filming cute boys too.'
'Should I burn this image into my memory… or erase it forever?'
Shibamatsu wrestled with the question in agony.
Still, he couldn't really say Shinji was wrong for doing it.
Judging by the excited chatter echoing through the theater, even if the lights turned on and the screening ended right now, the discussion around Fate/Apocrypha would remain scorching hot.
If one had to describe it—
Astolfo had the kind of physique that looked slim in clothes, but solid underneath.
When he was dressed, no one would ever imagine that this soft-looking boy was hiding such defined muscles.
Sure, he couldn't compare to muscle monsters like Heracles or Iskandar, but against a crowd of stay-at-home otaku, he absolutely crushed them.
In truth, male stars taking off their shirts to show off some muscle was standard procedure in most movies. Even Disney films—so eager to brand themselves as wholesome and family-friendly—weren't lacking in scenes like that.
But Astolfo's scene was something no one had been prepared for.
It wasn't that the audience didn't know it was coming—anyone who'd watched the trailer and didn't know would have to be blind. The real shock was just how overwhelming it felt to see this femboy flexing his physique on the big screen.
In every possible sense, neither men nor women could keep their composure.
'Why would you film a boy this pretty?'
'What is Shinji even aiming for here—male fans or female fans?'
Shibamatsu pondered silently.
People in the industry had always said that Shinji Matou was especially good at filming girls, that he always managed to capture their most beautiful sides on screen.
Now it seemed that wasn't the whole story.
Shinji wasn't just good at portraying girls—he was equally adept at showcasing boys too.
But soon enough, Shibamatsu realized something.
What Shinji truly excelled at had never been fashion shows, nor the sheer attractiveness of his characters.
It was—
BOOM!
With a thunderous crash, the gates of the Yggdmillennia castle were smashed open by Mordred's sword.
The sheer impact of the moment was like a storyteller's clapper striking the table, snapping the audience out of their Astolfo-induced daze and dragging them back into the world of Fate/Apocrypha.
After a brief lull—after parading an entire spectrum of girls and boys across the screen—Shinji finally returned to his true specialty.
Action.
Once inside the castle, the group immediately split up to search for Darnic, who was hiding somewhere within.
Thanks to the earlier exchange between Darnic and Astolfo, both the characters on screen and the audience watching believed the same thing—
That Darnic and his Servant, Vlad the Impaler, were the movie's final boss.
Especially Darnic himself. A man so utterly devoid of humanity looked perfect for the role of a grand, irredeemable villain.
Unfortunately—or perhaps fortunately—this supposedly ruthless Darnic was, in reality, little more than a clown who thought he could beat four twos by slamming down his ID card and a photocopy of it.
He believed he was fighting for the Yggdmillennia family's long-cherished dream.
In the eyes of the true final boss—Amakusa—Darnic was nothing more than a disposable laborer.
Of course, Darnic himself didn't see it that way. Convinced that he was the protagonist of this story, he prepared for one final struggle.
He sent Chiron and Stheno to delay Jeanne's group, while he himself went to see the Lord Impaler—gravely wounded and still in the process of recovering.
"My king," Darnic declared fervently, "the time has come to show the world your true form!"
"…What did you say?"
Lying on the bed, the Lord Impaler's expression tightened with wariness.
The madness burning in Darnic's eyes filled him with a terrible premonition.
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