Chapter 129: The Three Dumb Spirits Make a Ruckus at Type-Moon Inc.
Accompanied by soothing music, Unlimited Blade Works (UBW) has finally concluded.
Unlike the lively discussions during the broadcast, Aoko lay down on the sofa immediately after the episode ended.
After an entire season of following the show, the moment when Shirou and Rin held hands under the British sunset in the final scene made Aoko feel an emptiness, as if she had completed an arduous mission, similar to the emptiness after an intense physical exchange.
"Ah, it's finally over," Aoko said lazily, lying on the sofa, bored. "But what am I supposed to live for now? Grandpa's place is so boring~"
Aoko's sister, Touko, adjusted her glasses and said, "Why don't you just move out like I did? That way, you won't have to worry about what you want to do."
"If I did that... Grandpa would truly be all alone," Aoko replied slowly. "He would be even more pitiful."
Touko coldly replied, "I don't care if that old man is pitiful or not."
Aoko didn't respond, instead turning over and pretending she hadn't heard anything.
Whenever it came to discussing their grandfather, conversations between her and her sister always ended badly.
So every time their grandfather was mentioned, Aoko wisely chose to keep quiet.
"Might the next work by Sir Matou be the final part of the Fate/stay night (FSN) trilogy, Heaven's Feel (HF)?" asked Alice.
This question made Aoko sit up excitedly.
"The third part of FSN? When will it be broadcast?"
Touko quickly dampened her excitement: "Unfortunately, it's a restricted movie and will only be released as an OVA in Japan."
"Damn! An OVA release means it's going to take forever."
Aoko sighed in frustration and lay back down.
Alice added, "But it will air on HBO in North America."
Aoko sat up again: "That's great, my English is top-notch."
"But HBO won't air it until the second half of the year," Touko delivered another blow.
"Tch."
Aoko lay back down again.
Alice glanced at Aoko, then asked Touko, "Has Sir Matou's new movie started filming?"
"Yes."
"What?! That kid from the Matou family is making a new movie?!" Aoko sat up again, looking excited.
Touko nodded: "It's started, but the release might not be until next year. The film uses new technology, so it's not that easy to produce."
In fact, the film's production wasn't particularly difficult, but promoting glasses-free 3D screens takes time.
To have more new screens available, Shinji deliberately slowed down the movie's production.
"Curse you!"
Aoko, struck for the third time, lay down again.
'Touko, you're doing this on purpose, aren't you?'
Touko gave Alice a look.
'Of course, don't you think her up and down moods are quite cute?'
Alice secretly gave Touko a thumbs-up.
Touko would never admit that Alice had a point, absolutely not!
"Alright, since the show's over, should we change the channel..."
Touko was about to grab the remote when Alice stopped her.
"Wait, there's supposed to be an announcement after UBW, related to Sir Matou's new movie."
"An announcement?"
Touko was momentarily stunned, then realized, "Oh, that. It's nothing important, you don't need to watch it."
But Alice shook her head: "We should watch it. And no spoilers, you insider."
Touko shrugged her shoulders, pretending to be pitiful, "Alice, that really hurts my feelings. I need a hug to recover."
Lying on the sofa, Aoko sneered, "You're already an old ha— Ow! That hurt!"
Touko calmly retracted her fist and lit a cigarette.
Since they wouldn't know what to watch even if they changed the channel, Touko decided to go along with Alice's suggestion.
However, as someone who already knew what the announcement was, she had no expectations for it.
Soon, after the ending theme of UBW, the announcement Alice had been waiting for finally appeared.
'Matou Shinji's new movie is holding a grand contest for line submissions!'
On the TV screen, Shinji's handsome face appeared, along with a large banner.
At the same time, the background showed various iconic scenes from the Showa and Heisei eras of Ultraman.
Naturally, Alice was focused on the officially announced "Movie Line Contest" event.
For the Ultraman Mebius movie, a commemorative work in the Ultraman series, Tsuburaya Productions invited fans to submit classic lines for the characters in the film.
The ultimate winner would not only receive a prize from the official team, but their chosen line would also appear in the movie or TV series.
If multiple fans submitted the same line, a few lucky winners would be selected by lottery to receive the prize.
"Classic Ultraman lines, huh..." Aoko rolled her eyes. "I watched a few episodes when I was a kid, but I don't really remember much... Wait, Alice, what are you doing?"
Aoko was curious about what Alice was busily scribbling in her notebook.
"Classic Ultraman lines," Alice replied without looking up. "I'm writing down the lines I know to send in. Maybe I'll get lucky and win a special edition DVD signed by Sir Matou."
"You actually watched Ultraman, Alice?!"
Aoko propped herself up, her eyes wide with surprise.
"I just caught up recently," Alice said with a slight smile. "After all, it's a childhood classic of Sir Matou's, so I had to check it out."
"And? Did you find it childish after watching it?"
Surprisingly, Alice shook her head slightly: "Though it's a children's show and lacks depth in some areas, the special effects are decent for a TV series. Plus, it has a good mix of action and emotional moments—overall, it's a solid series."
"Not to mention the profound themes. While the show does highlight the shining moments of humanity, it also frequently portrays humans bringing about their own demise in various ways, which made me deeply aware of humanity's inherent flaws."
'That actually makes a lot of sense. I don't even know how to respond.'
Alice's response seemed far-fetched at first, but when Aoko thought about it, she realized there was truth to it.
"As expected of the series that Sir Matou loved as a child—much better than those overly sentimental love stories," Alice continued, still lost in her thoughts. "I can understand why Sir Matou would cherish his Ultraman figures."
'No, no, no, that kid never even bought an Ultraman toy.'
As one of Shinji's core team members, Touko knew that the story about his childhood love for Ultraman toys was just a PR stunt.
But since Shinji was now her boss, she chose to keep quiet to protect his image.
Touko also found Shinji's attitude towards Ultraman quite peculiar.
Despite the made-up story for publicity, Shinji was genuinely knowledgeable about Ultraman.
He could talk in detail about the series' lore, and during filming, he would smile like a 10-year-old child.
'That kid's attitude towards this series really makes me wonder if he's got a split personality.'
Thinking about the behind-the-scenes details of this event, Touko couldn't help but silently grumble.
In reality, the movie and TV show scripts had already been finalized.
Shinji had set up this contest and chosen to air it during prime time purely to stir up fan enthusiasm.
After all, there were only so many classic lines in the Ultraman series, and someone was bound to submit a line that matched the script.
At that point, they'd just hold a lottery, creating the illusion that fans were involved in the movie's creation.
It was a perfect strategy to both satisfy the fans and achieve promotional success.
'I hope Alice's chosen line gets picked...'
Recalling Shinji's constipated expression while designing the event, Touko couldn't shake the feeling that her junior was up to no good.
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Cloris, who had just entered the set, couldn't help but sweat a little at the sight of three people hanging from the set's beams.
If not for their distinctive hair colors, Cloris wouldn't have recognized them as Gilgamesh, EMIYA, and Cu Chulainn.
The three Servants were wrapped tightly in thick iron chains, with only their heads exposed.
However, their faces were so swollen—like they'd been stung by thousands of wasps—that even their own mothers wouldn't recognize them, so it was no wonder Cloris had to rely on their hair color to identify them.
As Cloris approached Shinji, she noticed that the three had pieces of paper stuck to them.
"I'm a useless rotten king... Even Alaya can't save me... I apologize for being a dog..." she read aloud, frowning. "What's going on here?"
"Hmph."
Shinji snorted in disdain.
"Just three big idiots."
Shinji didn't even feel like explaining.
He had specifically instructed Li Shuwen to keep an eye on them, yet they had still managed to trash the company office while Li Shuwen was busy working on set during the day.
Of course, the office-wrecking was mostly Gilgamesh's doing—he was venting his frustration over the final episode of UBW.
As for the other two, Archer decided that since the office was already destroyed, he might as well chase Cu Chulainn around in the ruins.
And then... well, you can guess the rest.
Once Li Shuwen found out, he teamed up with Enkidu to capture the three and gave them a good beating before stringing them up on set as an example.
Shinji, who had watched the whole thing, didn't stop them—in fact, he cheered them on.
After all, the things Gilgamesh had destroyed were company property, and renovations cost money.
Even though Gilgamesh had the Golden Rule, his reputation had gotten him blacklisted from all gambling establishments in Fuyuki City within three months of his summoning.
It wasn't just Gilgamesh—anyone associated with him was blacklisted as well.
The guy was so unbeatable at winning that the bookies started watching him closely.
"This is too much! How can we run a company with these morons around?"
Thinking about the long list of expenses, Shinji was tempted to use Enkidu's Chains of Heaven as a whip and give those three idiots another good beating.
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