Nian's commission proved to be far more difficult than Shirou had imagined.
The main problem was that her standards were simply too high.
One moment she would say there were too few swords.
The next, she would complain that too many of them looked alike.
Then she would say the angle was wrong and demand another take.
By the end of the morning, Shirou had been worked to the bone.
Incidentally, Nian's filming location was the Mall in Lungmen's commercial district.
As a result, an enormous crowd had gathered outside to watch.
According to Nian, people often stopped to watch whenever she filmed, so there was no need to pay them any attention. As long as they did not interfere with the production, they could watch all they wanted.
However, according to a certain idol who had skipped work just to join everyone for today's outing, the crowd was almost certainly drawn here by Shirou.
Under normal circumstances, unless the production featured a very famous celebrity, there would never be this many spectators.
After all, dozens of swords floating in the air were an incredible sight.
"Hmm... It still feels like something is missing."
While eating the lunch Shirou had prepared, Nian stared at the monitor and continued thinking about how to perfect the scene.
"I think it looks fine."
Under normal circumstances, Shirou admired people who were so dedicated to their work.
The problem was that today he was the overworked contractor.
All he wanted was for her to make up her mind so they could move on to the next scene.
Otherwise, if they continued at this pace, he estimated he would be stuck here for an entire week.
And this was only the first staged shot.
Once they reached the scenes where he had to control the weapons in flight, her standards would probably become even stricter.
At this point, it was simply a race to see whether his mana would run out first or whether Nian would finally exhaust her ideas.
"Come on, do not look so unwilling. I only had you working all morning."
Hearing the obvious reluctance in Shirou's voice, Nian set down her lunch and tried to cheer him up.
"I think you could be much more specific. You keep saying things like 'too many,' 'too few,' or 'the position is wrong,' but I cannot understand what you are actually imagining."
Looking at her with dead fish eyes, Shirou expressed his honest opinion.
"Hmm... You are right. We already have enough weapons of different types. As for their positions and angles, if we randomize them a few more times, one arrangement should eventually work... But it still feels like something is missing."
After hearing Shirou's complaint, Nian began reflecting on her own directions.
"What exactly are you trying to portray in this scene?"
Seeing that she was actually thinking things over, Shirou decided not to dwell on the issue. He pulled over a chair and sat down beside her to discuss it.
Arguing would not solve anything.
Besides, while discussing the shoot, he also had another mission.
He had to keep Nian occupied so she would not wander off and start adding extra chili to everyone else's lunch.
He had promised Croissant that he would keep her busy.
"On screen, the final boss is surrounded by countless swords, creating overwhelming pressure for both the protagonist and the audience."
After organizing her thoughts, Nian explained.
Shirou fell silent.
The moment he heard her description, an image immediately formed in his mind.
Not just an image.
He could practically hear the sound effects as well.
The only problem was that it might not be suitable for a theatrical release.
"How about having the final boss stand on top of a building while swords appear one after another, all pointing down at the protagonist?"
After thinking it over, Shirou realized that his battle against Gilgamesh the King of Heroes had created exactly the kind of scene Nian wanted.
One Noble Phantasm after another emerged from golden ripples, each aimed directly at him.
The sheer sense of pressure had been overwhelming.
"Oh? That actually sounds pretty good! But... it still feels like something is missing..."
Nian immediately wrote Shirou's suggestion into her notebook.
A moment later, however, she began agonizing over something else.
Shirou remained silent.
He was getting mentally exhausted.
Maybe he should just give up.
Rubbing the bridge of his nose, Shirou packed away his empty lunch box before trying to think from Nian's perspective.
No...
He should make one more effort.
If he left her alone with her indecision, things would probably develop in a very strange direction.
His mind began reconstructing those memories.
Or rather, he simply replayed his battle against the King of Heroes.
Gilgamesh had been dead for a very long time.
Borrowing a little inspiration from that battle should not hurt anyone.
Even if Gilgamesh wanted to complain...
There was an entire world separating them.
"Wait... Do you think the villain is missing a signature weapon?"
After pondering for quite some time, Shirou suddenly remembered that besides the Gate of Babylon, Gilgamesh had also possessed a Noble Phantasm that Shirou had never been able to analyze.
That weapon's destructive power had been astonishing.
It could even be said that if Gilgamesh had not been so overconfident and had used it from the very beginning, there would have been no possibility of victory in any timeline where they fought.
"Missing a weapon?"
The moment Nian heard those words, the vague inspiration drifting through her mind suddenly began taking shape.
It was still indistinct, however.
So she simply waited for Shirou to continue.
"I mean something that obviously looks stronger than all the other weapons. The kind that makes people think, 'That is definitely the weapon he uses to unleash his... ultimate attack.'"
With Nian looking at him expectantly, Shirou did not keep her waiting and immediately explained what he had in mind.
Originally, he had intended to say that it should be the weapon used to unleash a Noble Phantasm, but he quickly realized Nian would probably not understand the term, so he changed his wording.
"Yes! Exactly! No wonder it always felt like something was missing!"
After hearing Shirou's explanation, Nian finally grasped the inspiration she had been searching for.
It could not be helped.
There were simply too many details to consider, and most of her ideas came from drawing upon her past experience. Improving upon those ideas was easier said than done.
In reality, no one would carry around something that obviously looked overwhelmingly powerful.
Movies, however, were different.
If the villain never brought out such a weapon, the audience would never know what trump card they still possessed.
Of course, people who acted that arrogantly in real life usually died young.
Those who survived generally had the strength to justify that confidence.
Although finally catching hold of her inspiration filled Nian with excitement, her enthusiasm quickly faded again.
"What is wrong? Did you not just figure it out?"
Watching her expression change from exhilaration to dejection, Shirou looked puzzled.
Had she not just solved the problem?
Why had she suddenly become depressed again?
"I have an idea now, but that creates another problem. You have shown me so many swords, and every single one has its own unique style. I cannot think of what kind of weapon the villain should hold to truly emphasize how powerful he is."
Nian honestly admitted what was bothering her.
Shirou fell silent.
At this point, he genuinely wanted to give up.
He strongly suspected that even if he solved this problem, she would immediately discover another one.
Still, believing that if he was going to help someone, he might as well see it through to the end, Shirou continued trying to solve it.
Fortunately, this particular issue was not too difficult.
His inventory of Noble Phantasms still contained plenty of options.
Surely one of them would catch Nian's eye.
If none of them worked...
Then he would simply have to create one on the spot.
The two of them continued discussing possibilities for quite some time.
Even after the lunch break ended, they still had not reached a conclusion.
During the discussion, the members of Penguin Logistics also joined in.
Unfortunately, each suggestion they offered was somehow less reliable than the last.
Exusiai's proposal was especially outrageous.
She insisted that the villain would look cooler holding a gun instead of a sword.
The suggestion immediately earned her a long, silent stare from Nian.
Exusiai promptly made a zipping motion across her lips in self-defense.
"How about telling us more about the script? That way we can suggest something based on the villain's role."
Seeing that even the combined efforts of Penguin Logistics had failed to produce a good answer, Shirou finally asked whether Nian could share part of the screenplay.
Up until now, their discussion had been based on the fact that only Nian knew the full story.
Everyone else only knew about this particular scene and what she wanted from it.
Clearly, that was not enough to keep up with Nian's boundless imagination.
That was why Shirou decided to ask for the script itself, hoping a deeper understanding would lead to a solution.
"Let me think..."
Nian did not reject the request.
She simply needed a little time to organize her thoughts.
"So... your script includes a school setting, gangsters, cops and robbers, spies betraying spies, natural disasters, and an apocalyptic world... all in the same movie?"
After listening to Nian explain the story, Shirou felt a headache coming on.
Each of those elements worked well individually.
Putting them all together, however...
Was deeply questionable.
It would either become an incredible masterpiece...
Or a complete disaster.
The chances of the former were less than ten percent.
For the first time, Shirou truly understood why Nian's reputation within the film industry was so poor.
If every movie she made was this kind of chaotic mixture, who would actually want to watch it?
"Exactly! But all of that has already been filmed. Right now we are shooting the final boss who appears after the protagonist defeats the first big boss... who also happens to be his father.
"This final boss is actually the protagonist himself from the future after he has fallen into darkness.
"By this point, he possesses power that surpasses even his father's. Just look at his enormous body. It is the perfect proof..."
Apparently becoming more and more excited as she spoke, Nian enthusiastically poured out all of her worldbuilding and ideas.
Shirou, however, barely heard anything after that.
The overwhelming sense of déjà vu was simply too strong.
So...
Why was it another story where someone's future self traveled back to fight their past self?
Was this really becoming some universal rule?
Did everyone who traveled through time immediately search for their younger self just to beat them up?
It was not just Shirou.
Croissant, Exusiai, Texas, and Sora still retained fragments of memories from Shirou's past.
Among those memories was the story of Archer.
If Nian had actually been present back then, all four of them would have suspected that she had drawn inspiration from it before creating this... this movie.
"...A giant monster... a gigantic body..."
Unlike the other three, who were busy thinking of sarcastic comments, Sora immediately focused on the important part.
"Shirou, do you not have that really huge Noble Phantasm? What about using that?"
Although he rarely used it, every appearance left an unforgettable impression.
After all, that Noble Phantasm was as enormous as a skyscraper.
"Ig-Alima?"
Shirou thought about it for a moment.
"That might actually work..."
"...But bringing something like that out here would probably not be a very good idea."
Hearing Sora's suggestion, Shirou immediately understood what she meant.
Ig-Alima had actually crossed his mind earlier as well.
However, considering that they were in the middle of the city, he had dismissed the idea because using it here would almost certainly cause trouble.
Still, since it had been brought up, they might as well discuss it.
More importantly, after learning that he possessed something like that, Nian was staring at him with such a resentful expression that he found it difficult to ignore.
"Is it huge? How huge?"
Seeing that Shirou was no longer trying to keep it a secret, Nian stopped dwelling on the fact that he had hidden it from her and instead focused on the weapon itself.
It was not as though she had never seen oversized weapons before.
But if it was one of Shirou's "Noble Phantasms," then it was an entirely different matter.
"About... as big as that building?"
When asked to describe its size, Shirou found it difficult to give an exact measurement.
Instead, he pointed toward a nearby high-rise as a reference.
"That really is enormous. It is almost large enough for a giant beast to use..."
"...Perfect!"
"If we use that, it will look absolutely spectacular!"
Looking in the direction Shirou indicated, Nian quickly made up her mind.
Ordinary swords simply were not worthy of the villain she had designed.
This was exactly the kind of gigantic holy sword she wanted.
"That is exactly why I asked whether projecting something that large in the middle of the city is really a good idea!"
Seeing Nian become so excited that she had completely forgotten his original concern, Shirou could only repeat it once more.
"Do not worry! At worst, I will just pay for the damages! Besides, everyone has already been evacuated!"
This time, Nian did not avoid the question.
Instead, she confidently patted her chest.
Shirou blinked.
...What?
No, he was fairly certain this was not the sort of thing that could simply be solved by paying compensation.
Even assuming money really could solve everything...
Everything around them looked incredibly expensive.
If the sword so much as scratched one of the surrounding buildings, the repair bill would probably cost an astronomical amount of Lungmen dollars.
Which meant...
Nian was actually quite wealthy?
Then again, that did make sense.
If she did not have considerable savings, there was no way she could sustain her carefree lifestyle of wandering around Lungmen every day while eating hot pot whenever she pleased.
Still...
Being able to cover the damages here sounded absurd.
Forget the storefronts.
If the sword accidentally scraped that grand piano over there, Shirou estimated he would have to work without eating or drinking for eighteen months just to repay it.
How did he know?
The last time he had come here with Swire on official business, she had casually mentioned it, and the information had stuck in his memory.
The entire commercial district...
Apparently belonged to her family's business empire.
"Stop overthinking it! Just bring it out over there so I can see it!"
Perhaps noticing that Shirou was still hesitating, Nian grabbed him by the arm and dragged him toward a relatively open area.
She looked exactly like a child tugging at a parent's sleeve while begging for a new toy.
"...All right."
"But everyone should stand back a little. I will need some time to prepare."
Looking at Nian's eager expression, as well as the members of Penguin Logistics, who were looking at him with exactly the same sparkling eyes despite having already seen it several times, Shirou realized there was no escaping this.
If he did not project Ig-Alima today, he probably would not be leaving anytime soon.
Since Nian had guaranteed that she could cover any damages...
Then he would project it.
That did not mean he intended to destroy the surrounding area, however.
The reason he said he needed some preparation time was because he intended to make some adjustments to Ig-Alima itself.
Ig-Alima he produced through Projection was merely an imitation that possessed only its outward form.
The adjustment Shirou intended to make was actually quite simple.
Back when he first projected it, he had already simplified its composition enough to make the Projection possible.
Now he would reduce it even further.
He would preserve only its appearance while stripping away as much of its internal structure as possible.
Doing so would dramatically reduce the weapon's weight.
It would also consume far less mana.