Chapter 326: Cloris' Ambition
When one woman casually drops another woman's nickname in front of you—especially when the former also shares a certain indescribable relationship with you…
Yeah, let's just say the ending is rarely pretty for the guy.
To come out of that kind of situation calm and unscathed, there are only two possibilities:
Either that woman doesn't care about you in the slightest anymore, or… you've ascended to the ultimate form of womanizer. A Harem Protagonist itself!
The thing is, Shinji's attitude toward Cloris and Cloris' feelings toward him were… not exactly the same.
From Shinji's perspective, his relationship with Lissy hadn't been clearly defined yet. At most, she was just a pleasant bed partner.
And that's exactly why Shinji is a scumbag.
As for Cloris, well…
Shinji snuck a glance at her. That half-smiling, half-not expression on her lips made him shiver on the spot.
It wasn't that he didn't care about what she thought. He just didn't want to give up his freedom to bed other girls by labeling her as his "girlfriend." But the last thing he wanted was to piss her off and get beaten senseless.
After all, deep down Shinji was a born punching bag—his entire demeanor practically begged for a beating.
Fortunately, the worst-case scenario he dreaded—Cloris using him as a public sandbag—didn't happen.
Instead, Cloris pulled out her notes and brought up work.
"I just came from the Type-Moon office. Times Group will be releasing three films for The Garden of Sinners. Here's the copy of the contract—take a look."
Shinji's eyes lit up instantly. He grinned.
"That's some great news."
Anyone with even a shred of industry knowledge knew just how crucial a solid distribution channel was for a film.
Sure, Times Group had already agreed to invest in the The Garden of Sinners project, but the distribution contract had been left hanging all this time.
Now, with the deal finally signed—even if there weren't any new clauses particularly favorable to Type-Moon—Shinji still felt an enormous weight lift off his chest.
"Hey, Shinji…"
Cloris let out a faint sigh. "Do you really think The Garden of Sinners can succeed?"
"Huh? Weren't you the one who convinced me to go all-in on this project in the first place?"
Cloris shook her head slightly, a trace of frustration on her face.
"Do you know, Shinji? The only reason our group's financial reports looked good these past two years was because of you. The movies we've made ourselves have just been getting worse and worse."
"So what—you're hoping I'll keep bailing you out?"
Shinji's brows knitted together.
If Times Group was really running itself into the ground, then he'd have to seriously reconsider this partnership.
A distributor was everything to a movie. You could never be too cautious about them.
There were countless cases of carefully crafted films failing at the box office simply because the distributor sabotaged them.
And if a distribution company started hemorrhaging money, they'd often resort to shady "robbing Peter to pay Paul" tricks.
Times Group probably wouldn't dare push Shinji's films to outright losses. But a little skimming off the top here and there? That was a real possibility.
And with the way audits worked, that kind of thing was hard to catch.
If that ever happened, Shinji knew he'd have to reevaluate working with Times Group at all.
He wasn't some no-name rookie director anymore. With the current box office success and influence of Fate, there were countless distribution companies worldwide that would kill to handle his movies.
Finding someone who could match—or come close to—Times Group's conditions wouldn't be difficult.
"Lissy, Times Group hasn't been cooking the books yet, right?" Shinji asked, his tone icy.
"Of course not. The accounts involving Type-Moon are under special supervision."
Cloris hurried to explain—just one look at Shinji's expression and she knew exactly what he was thinking.
She was well aware that this man never mixed personal feelings into business. To him, business was profit, nothing more. So she quickly tried to reassure him.
"It's not as bad as you're imagining. But… it's also a fact that the upper management at Times Group is old, stagnant, and falling apart. So…"
Cloris took a deep breath, then spoke in a slightly rushed tone:
"I want to take control of the Group, to fix the parts that are already broken. Shinji—will you help me?"
Shinji gave her a long, serious look before letting out a short laugh.
"Lissy… are you asking me to get involved in Times Group's internal power struggle?"
"No," Cloris shook her head. "You don't have to do anything to the Group. All you need to do is keep making your movies a success. Leave the internal maneuvering to me. Your results—that's my greatest leverage."
As she brushed a lock of hair behind her ear, Shinji noticed the pale skin there flushing faintly red.
That was her tell. Cloris always reacted like this when her emotions ran high. For all the calm in her voice, she was nowhere near as composed as she wanted him to believe.
Shinji didn't answer right away. Instead, he flipped open his notebook and started sketching absentmindedly.
No matter how pretty Cloris dressed it up, just "lending her his results" was already taking her side in Times Group's factional battles.
'But… if Lissy really does seize control of Times Group, that's good for me too. At the very least, it'd give me a handhold inside the company…'
If Times Group was just a chaotic mess, Shinji had no interest in wading into that swamp.
But if Cloris was on the verge of victory? If all he had to do was step in at the end and claim the spoils? Then he'd happily throw in two hundred percent of his effort.
And even if Cloris failed, if the old geezers at the top decided to hate his guts over it—so what? He could just cut ties with the Group, pack up his projects, and find another partner.
Sure, there'd be some losses. But compared to the rewards if Cloris pulled it off? It was a gamble worth taking.
"…Alright."
After a moment's thought, Shinji finally spoke.
"I want my movies to succeed more than anyone."
On the surface, it sounded like pointless fluff. What director doesn't want their films to succeed?
But Cloris understood the true meaning behind it: I'll make the The Garden of Sinners project a success. And you, Lissy, can use that success as the weight you need to smash the Times Group boardroom wide open.
"However…" Shinji added coolly, "once you've won, I'll be trading Type-Moon shares for something else."
He didn't say what. But really—what else could he mean but Times Group shares?
Cloris wasn't surprised in the slightest. She didn't object either. When that time came, having an ally willing to consolidate extra shares for her would only be a boon.
"Then let me thank you in advance, Shinji."
With a smile, Cloris slipped her arms around his and planted a light kiss on his cheek.
"Lissy, you don't have to do… this…"
Shinji tried to pull his arm free, but the more he tugged, the tighter Cloris clung.
"Lissy?" His brows furrowed. Something felt off.
Cloris leaned close, lips brushing against his ear. In the most intimate gesture possible, she whispered words that cut like ice:
"About that 'Shiki-nee' you mentioned earlier—tell me, Shinji. Do you have any particular interest in that Kyoto-born lady?"
"Uh, hey, didn't I just help you out…?"
Shinji tried to appeal to her with his sincerity.
Unfortunately for him, Lissy knew him far too well. That trick wasn't going to work on her.
"Didn't you say it yourself? Business and private life should stay separate. Helping me was business. This—" Cloris' smile curved dangerously, "—this is personal."
"Cough, cough!"
Shinji knew he was doomed. He cursed himself for being careless—why hadn't he just made his cool exit right after showing off? Instead, he let himself get hooked by something as small as a kiss, and now he was trapped.
"Lissy, I've got just one request."
"Go on~"
"Don't hit my face. I still have work today."
Cloris' lips blossomed into a dazzling smile.
"How could I ever hit you? I'd only ever love you, Shinji~"
And with that, she twisted the flesh of his arm between her fingers.
"Yaaagh!"
Shinji let out a scream of pure agony.
◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆
As a career woman aiming to topple Times Group's senior management, Cloris was naturally busy beyond belief.
After teasing Shinji to her heart's content, she shifted the topic back to business, spending a little while discussing the promotional plans for Remaining Sense of Pain. Then, she excused herself and left.
From start to finish, neither of them ever mentioned the future exchange ratio between Type-Moon and Times Group shares.
Honestly, that wasn't a conversation worth having yet. At the very least, it was years away.
A company like Type-Moon, growing as explosively as it was, saw its valuation change every single year. Talking numbers now would either mean Cloris was trying to trick Shinji out of his shares—or that Shinji's brain had taken a serious hit.
Once she was gone, Shinji turned his full attention back to the set.
The next scene was a complicated explosion sequence, with an entire skyscraper warping under magical force before finally detonating. The trickiest part was syncing the moment of distortion with the actual blast.
Fortunately, his teamwork with Archer was on point. Their coordination made the magical timing smooth and seamless. After just one take, Shinji called it a wrap.
There's no need to rebuild the entire set from scratch and blow it up again—a small miracle.
Thinking about it, Shinji realized just how much Nasu had tricked him all these years.
Back in his old world, when he first watched Fate/Stay Night, Rin had once repaired the broken windows of the Emiya house, claiming the task was "super simple."
At the time, Shinji had assumed it was only beyond Shirou because he was a hopeless newbie.
But after actually transmigrating into this world, Shinji discovered the truth—restoring objects to their original state was insanely difficult.
And it had nothing to do with the decline of mystery. It was simply that this type of time-related magecraft was already brushing up against the domain of the True Magic.
Of course, maybe Rin hadn't been restoring the glass at all. Maybe she had just used the shards as material to recreate an entirely new pane.
Or maybe, for her own complicated reasons, Rin had drilled that particular spell to perfection. To the point where she could casually say, "Oh, this is easy."
Whatever the case, Shinji was convinced her unusual expertise was tied somehow to the Tohsaka family's very practical household finances.
<+>
If you want to see more chapter of this story and don't mind paying $5 each month to read till the latest posted chapter, please go to my Patreon[1]
Current Chapter In Patreon: Chapter 363: Fate/Apocrypha Teaser Premieres[2]
Link to the latest chapter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/145877654?collection=31097[3]
https://www.patreon.com/collection/31097?view=expanded[4]
[1] https://www.patreon.com/collection/31097?view=expanded
[2] https://www.patreon.com/posts/145877654?collection=31097
[3] https://www.patreon.com/posts/145877654?collection=31097
[4] https://www.patreon.com/collection/31097?view=expanded