I'm Not A Master, I'm A Director
Chapter 388: The White-Haired Internet Scammer
"…What just happened back there?"
Alice looked completely lost. She turned to the magus friends beside her, only to find the same bewildered expressions mirrored on every face.
"I think I saw a tower?"
"That flower garden was so pretty~"
"Was that some kind of special program?"
...
Listening to the murmured exchanges around her, Alice instantly understood that what she had seen wasn't a hallucination unique to herself.
But—
"Ordinary viewers don't seem to have seen anything…"
She scanned the theater, observing the reactions of most of the audience.
There were indeed plenty of people whispering among themselves, but without exception, they were all magi. The ordinary moviegoers showed no sign that anything unusual had occurred.
"So… what exactly was that spell Sir Matou just used?"
Alice refused to believe that someone with her idol's grand vision would go to such lengths merely to show magi viewers a beautiful scene.
Sure, the sea of flowers had been breathtaking, but if that was all, why not just put it directly into the movie as a setting?
"Could it be… another experiment with some kind of special screening mode?"
Confusion crept in. Faced with unfamiliar magecraft, Alice felt an intense urge to grasp the whole picture.
"If only I could talk to Sir Matou directly…"
She glanced toward the front rows of the theater, fidgeting restlessly in her seat.
Unlike the bewildered audience, Shinji—who had sensed something—curved his lips into a smile.
"Hmm… that turned out to be an unexpected bonus~"
"Master, did you do something bad again?"
Jeanne wasn't a magus and had no idea what had just happened.
But a Servant's hearing was no joke. With so many magi in the theater, their whispered conversations hadn't escaped her notice.
"It's nothing," Shinji chuckled lightly.
"I just casually put out a missing-person notice. Didn't expect an immediate reply."
Jeanne raised an eyebrow and tightened her grip slightly.
"Riddler should get out of Gotham. You said that yourself, Master."
"Hey, don't get worked up~"
Shinji gave a wry smile as he explained, "I just used Merlin's appearance to let the magi here help me pinpoint that internet-scammer location."
"Merlin?"
Jeanne sighed, then looked at him helplessly.
"You mean the Heroic Spirit you've never been able to summon?"
"Yep." Shinji nodded.
That scammer was simply too slippery.
Shinji had tried summoning him several times, only to be stood up every single time.
Unlike most Heroic Spirits, Merlin could constantly observe the present world through Clairvoyance. Dodging Shinji's summons was effortless for him.
For most Heroic Spirits, responding to a summon was like opening a blind box. Before manifesting, they had no idea who the summoning magus was.
Their only options were to accept—or refuse.
But Merlin was an exception.
This guy, hiding away in his tower while jumping around the internet as a professional vtuber scammer, had been observing humanity all along.
Of course, under normal circumstances, even Merlin couldn't keep track of everything happening in the world.
But unfortunately for him, Shinji had a coordinate that carried MAX aggro value as far as Merlin was concerned.
"With Arturia around, he'd absolutely be watching Fuyuki City nonstop. There's no way he'd miss a chance to observe Arturia's daily life."
In this world, Chaldea hadn't yet appeared. Shirou hadn't started high-jumping. And the top spot on the Heroic Spirit livestream rankings was still vacant.
Under such circumstances, the big shots who could observe the present naturally chose whatever "program" interested them most.
And given that, there was simply no way Merlin wasn't watching Fuyuki City.
Shinji strongly suspected that every move he made was already within Merlin's field of view.
Otherwise, there was no way Merlin could have rejected his summons with such uncanny precision.
'But that works both ways,' Shinji thought calmly.
'I can use his curiosity against him and find a way to catch him.'
"I see now!"
Jeanne looked at Shinji, a hint of admiration surfacing on her face.
"Master, you used the scenes related to Merlin in this film as the foundation for a magecraft formula. When that magus appeared in the movie, you reversed the connection and used the opportunity to locate him."
"Because of his obsession with Arturia, Merlin would never miss a chance to watch a film tied to King Arthur."
Jeanne nodded, genuinely impressed.
"You really calculated everything. No wonder that magus refuses to answer your summons. If he got summoned by someone like you, he'd definitely be worked to the bone."
"Thank you for the compliment, Saint Jeanne."
Jeanne's eyebrow twitched.
"I wasn't complimenting you, Master!"
"And that's not all, you know."
At the very same moment, atop a certain tower, a certain white-haired incubus let out a long sigh.
"He even set up a Q&A between Mordred and the audience… and that moment where I lock eyes with Mordred—or rather, the viewers."
"The first part pulls the audience into that child's emotions, simulating a conversation with me."
"The second forces me to respond to their expectations… guiding their consciousness straight here."
As he spoke, Merlin shot Shinji an exasperated look.
"You really came prepared."
Without the contract formed through the collective chanting of those magi, pulling off that spell just now would have been extremely difficult.
The amount of preparatory work alone should've kept Shinji busy for quite some time.
And yet, Shinji had split the incantation workload, waited until all prerequisites were fulfilled, and then activated the spell instantly, leaving him no time to react.
It could only be said that Shinji had zero sense of sportsmanship—ambushing a centenarian senior like this.
"Sigh… what am I supposed to do now?"
If Merlin were a Heroic Spirit, this wouldn't be much of a problem.
But he was still alive. And this place was not the Throne of Heroes.
If Shinji hadn't found him, fine—but now that he had, there was nothing stopping him from throwing things directly at Merlin's location.
What if tomorrow it was a rotten egg? The day after, a roll of toilet paper?
How was he supposed to live like that?!
And even if Shinji wasn't that morally bankrupt, he could still have Arturia write to him every single day.
So should he reply… or not reply?
Merlin thought it over carefully.
And arrived at only one conclusion.
"Demon… miser… absolute monster…"
Biting down on the tower railing, Merlin muttered his complaints nonstop.
"It's not like I'm unwilling to lend my likeness for free! Why not just have that womanizer of yours pretend to be me?! Why do I have to report for duty in person?!"
"I just want to slack off~!"
The Magus of Flowers, Merlin, let out a mournful wail from atop his tower.
Then, in the very next second, he leaned forward eagerly.
"Alright, alright—back to the movie! It's getting to the good part now! Since I'm doomed to a life of hard labor anyway, I might as well indulge myself before work starts!"
As he spoke, Merlin scooped up a certain Beast and lifted it high over his head.
"Here, you watch too! This is modern art, you know~"
"Fou!"
◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆
No one would ever learn about the bizarre antics of that white-haired internet scammer playing around with his beast.
Not even the magi who had helped Shinji locate him, once the connection was cut, they had no way of knowing what happened afterward.
And honestly, the magus audience had already pushed that strange vision to the back of their minds.
Just as Merlin had said, Fate/Apocrypha had entered its most exciting phase.
They simply didn't have the mental bandwidth to care about anything else.
After her heart-to-heart with Merlin, Mordred rose to her feet—as if revived by a final burst of light.
"They say the hardest person to truly understand… is yourself."
"Oh~?"
The Empress still hadn't sensed the danger closing in.
Instead, she lifted the corner of her lips with amused interest.
"So, you've come to understand yourself again?"
"Yes… I used to think my wish was to draw the Sword of Selection and become king."
"And now?"
Mordred shook her head, a gentle smile forming on her face.
"I was wrong. Becoming king was never my goal. I only wanted to help my father."
"If I became king, she wouldn't have to sit alone on that lonely throne anymore. She could reclaim all the things she cast aside in order to become king."
A look of release spread across Mordred's face.
'You're always alone. If someone could take your place as king, you wouldn't have to be like this anymore.'
'Father… I just wanted to see you smile in peace.'
"I'll apologize to you properly someday, Father."
That single line on the big screen was no different from a public confession.
Sitting below, Arturia shuddered from head to toe.
She had just barely survived Merlin's emotional hurdle, and now her son was joining in?!
"Uh… what are you three doing?"
Arturia slowly turned her head, only to find the three idiots of the Round Table staring at her with very strange expressions.
"It's nothing. I just think this kind of deep bond between parent and child is really beautiful."
"I'm so jealous of Mordred. I want to confess my feelings to the King on the big screen too."
"My king, I shall play a song for you later."
Arturia's lips twitched violently. The vein on her forehead throbbed visibly.
"Master!"
She was about to go find a certain director to settle the score when she looked up and saw her son gazing at her shyly.
"Father… can you accept me now?"
Though Mordred didn't say a single word, Arturia clearly read the meaning in her eyes.
"…Hiss…"
Arturia sucked in a sharp breath.
A book title surfaced in her mind—
Life Is Not Worth Living.
◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆
On the big screen, Mordred pushed herself upright with her sword, then tore off her headband, letting her golden hair spill freely over her shoulders.
"Now that I've given up on becoming king, I only have one wish left."
The Empress sneered.
"You can say it. If you're willing to stand with us, perhaps my Master and I could even grant your wish~"
"Don't worry. You will be able to grant it," Mordred said coldly.
"Because the only thing I want… is your head, Empress!"
Mordred spat blood-tinged saliva straight into the Empress's face.
The provocation was so sudden that the Empress froze the instant the spit touched her skin.
"Tch."
Snapping back to her senses, the Empress frowned, lips pressed thin.
"Very well. Then I'll learn from that Eastern empress… and turn you into a human swine."
As she spoke, the Empress extended her hand.
But—
BOOM!
Before she could attack, a thunderous explosion erupted behind them, as if something had detonated.
"What—!?" The Empress exclaimed in surprise.
But her shock wasn't at the explosion itself, it was at what the explosion brought with it.
"Rider! Charge!"
"Master!?"
Hearing the voice coming from the blast site, Mordred's lips curled upward.
As expected, her Master had never disappointed her when it mattered.
"Hyaaah—!"
Astolfo burst out of the smoke with a shout, launching himself at the Empress.
"Magical All-purpose Tome of Tactics—Luna Break Manual!"
Astolfo unleashed every remaining page of the book. The fluttering sheets filled the air, shielding him from the poisonous miasma that corroded flesh on contact.
After all, the Empress's poison was still magecraft.
And magecraft could be countered by the Manual.
"Pathetic trash!"
The Empress didn't spare Astolfo a second glance.
Blocking her poison meant nothing.
Fighting Astolfo was like a troll bullying a goblin, using even one hand would be overkill.
"Summon—manifest!"
Several fish-scale shields materialized between the two of them, blocking Astolfo's charge.
If it had been Mordred's Noble Phantasm, brute force might have broken through.
But Astolfo?
Yeah… right.
And yet, Astolfo grinned.
"Nom!"
With a sharp bite, he crushed something inside his mouth.
Boom!
A crimson flash erupted as Astolfo suddenly accelerated in midair, his charge multiplying in speed.
"A Command Spell?!"
Semiramis's eyes flew wide. She hadn't expected Astolfo to pull something like that out of nowhere.
The Command Spell in Astolfo's mouth had been entrusted to him by Jeanne before she left.
Although Jeanne, as a Ruler, had already expended the two Command Spells she was authorized to use on Astolfo in this Holy Grail War, she still possessed Command Spells originally meant for other Servants.
Thanks to the chaotic opening melee of this Grail War, Jeanne had ended up with quite a few Command Spells she couldn't use.
And since hoarding Command Spells didn't magically make more of them, why not let an ally use them?
The Command Spell transferred to Astolfo had already lost its original authority. It couldn't replenish Sisigou's Command Spells, nor issue orders. All it could do now was serve as a massive mana booster.
Jeanne's original intent had been to let it slowly replenish Astolfo's mana, maintaining his existence in the world after losing his Master.
But now, Astolfo burned it all at once to gain explosive combat power.
With the Command Spell's blessing, Astolfo—who was normally no more than a bullet—had become a ground-attack missile.
His pink-clad body slammed into the shields, the overwhelming impact scattering every floating barrier in midair.
"Tch!"
Semiramis didn't know how Astolfo had managed it.
But she knew that If she stayed where she was, she'd be cut down in a single swing.
At the end of the day, Semiramis wasn't a frontline fighter.
And no matter how weak Astolfo might be, he was still a proper knight.
In close combat without Noble Phantasms, the advantage was undeniably his.
So, the Empress retreated.
Seeing Assassin widen the distance between herself and Saber, Sisigou smiled.
Astolfo's noisy charge had only been a feint.
His real objective was—
"Get up, Mordred!"
Sword in his right hand, Astolfo pulled out a gun-shaped injector with his left.
The moment he landed, he pressed it against Mordred's neck and pulled the trigger.
The serum was injected instantly.
This was something they had hastily prepared before the battle to counter the Empress's poison.
Rushed as it was, its effectiveness was more than enough to get Mordred back on her feet.
The instant the serum entered her body, searing pain exploded through Mordred once more.
But this pain wasn't the hollow agony of her strength being drained.
It was like something had detonated inside her.
"Kh—ha—!!"
Mordred spat out a mouthful of blood already blackened by poison.
She felt her internal heat cycle accelerating, her entire body plunging into an extreme state of exhilaration.
"So this is what modern folks call adrenaline, huh?!"
She slapped Astolfo hard on the shoulder.
"I don't like French people, but you're an exception~"
"Hehe~"
Rubbing his sore shoulder, Astolfo flashed Mordred a huge grin.
"What—?!"
The Empress froze.
The blood-spitting Mordred radiated undeniable danger.
"Yo."
Mordred glared down at the Empress with razor-sharp eyes.
She was back.
Not fully recovered, but at least strong enough to keep fighting in this room that was still saturated with lethal poison.
She and Astolfo raised their knightly swords together, aiming them at the Empress.
"You—!!"
"Well then," Mordred smirked, turning the provocation back on her foe.
"Run… or fight?"
"Choose, you poisonous hag."
<+>
Tn: I updated the story once every 2 days, but if you want to see more chapter of this story ahead of time, please go to my Patreon.
Latest Chapter: Chapter 429: Another Poor Kid Who Gets Sold and Still Says Thanks[1]
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