I'm Not A Master, I'm A Director
Chapter 411: The First Clash Between Distortion and Mystic Eyes of Death
"Ryougi… Shiki…?"
A trace of fear flashed across Fujino's eyes.
The secret she most wanted to hide had been witnessed by someone she knew.
"Asagami Fujino… I see. So you're someone with blood ties to the Asagami family."
In contrast to Fujino's panic, Ryougi Shiki appeared perfectly calm.
Although the narrow alley was thick with the smell of blood, Shiki neither screamed nor reacted dramatically. She simply narrowed her eyes slightly.
"Since when—"
Before Fujino could finish asking, Shiki interrupted her.
"—From the beginning. Around the time you lured that pile of meat scraps out."
The cold reply sent a shiver down Fujino's spine.
This woman had watched everything from start to finish.
And despite seeing it all, she hadn't stopped the man when he tried to assault Fujino. She hadn't fled after Fujino began killing him either.
She had simply stood there the whole time…
'This woman… something's wrong with her.'
"Please don't call it meat scraps! This is a person. This is a human corpse." Fujino protested.
If someone only listened to their conversation, they might easily believe that the cold and indifferent Shiki was the killer, while Fujino was the one righteously condemning her.
Unfortunately, Ryougi Shiki was the classic example of someone with high intelligence but extremely low emotional awareness.
A person who never cared about reading the room was not going to be thrown off by a single sentence from Fujino.
"Ah… if we're talking about people, then even after death they can still be called human. They don't become mindless chunks of meat."
Shiki took another step toward Fujino, her gaze shifting toward the corpse.
"But this isn't a human way to die, you know. People don't die like this."
"Anyone who can't even die like a human… isn't human anymore."
"So that's just a pile of meat scraps."
Hearing Shiki speak in such a flat, emotionless tone, Fujino began to feel a surge of disgust toward her.
"No! I'm normal! I'm not like you!"
Fujino shouted, fiercely denying Shiki's words.
Although both girls possessed abnormal eyes, their attitudes toward that abnormality were completely different.
Shiki had never denied her own abnormality. In fact, she even hoped to encounter more of it.
Fujino, on the other hand, was the exact opposite.
Even in her dreams, she wished she could simply be a normal person.
She didn't kill those young men for pleasure.
She killed them because she wanted to become normal.
That was the fundamental difference between the two girls.
Of course, Shiki noticed this.
But instead of agreeing with Fujino, she pressed even harder.
"We're similar companions, you know… Asagami."
A faint smile appeared on Shiki's lips, as if she found the situation amusing.
How could that smile be described?
Perhaps like forcing someone who was sobbing uncontrollably to smile—using your fingers to push up both corners of their mouth.
"Don't joke with me!!"
Feeling the pressure, Fujino glared at Shiki.
A crimson glow shone in the darkness as the image within her sight began to twist.
Crack
The power of distortion gathered in midair.
But Shiki had already moved away from her original position in the very first instant. Fujino's attack only twisted a section of brick wall into powder.
Still, Fujino didn't stop attacking.
Her gaze tracked Shiki's movements, trying to lock onto her position.
Unfortunately, Shiki was no fragile young lady.
Her nimble speed left Fujino's distortions chasing nothing but empty air.
It couldn't be helped.
Up until now, Fujino had only been using her ability through instinct alone.
That was completely different from someone like Shiki, who had received professional training.
"What a reckless woman."
While rapidly moving through the alley, Shiki couldn't help muttering a complaint as Fujino wildly unleashed her power, tearing apart everything around them without restraint.
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"This is more like the kind of scene a Shinji Matou movie should have."
Seeing Asagami Fujino and Ryougi Shiki finally clash, Aoko in her seat pumped her fist excitedly.
Compared to Shinji's other movies, The Garden of Sinners had a much slower pacing.
It wasn't that Aoko disliked this kind of gradual, carefully built storytelling.
But when it came to a Shinji Matou film…
How could it not have fights?
So far, aside from the brief probing exchange between Shiki and Touko in the hospital, the only real action scene had been Fujino blowing up that room earlier.
Because of that, Aoko kept feeling that Garden of Sinners simply wasn't as thrilling as Fate.
Fortunately, Ryougi Shiki and Fujino had finally begun fighting.
Otherwise, Aoko was starting to wonder if she might fall asleep in the theater.
What she didn't know, however, was that this action scene had actually been specially added by Shinji for the movie. In the original story, the two girls never fought at all.
But after so many years of directing films, Shinji naturally knew how to stage a fight scene that looked good on screen.
Not only did the audience not find this extra scene abrupt, many of them even hoped the two girls on the screen would keep fighting longer.
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Boom!
A streetlight pole was twisted apart by Fujino's gaze.
Having lost its support, the metal pillar was flung through the air by the force of distortion, crashing down toward Shiki on the ground.
"Tch."
Shiki stopped moving and swung the small knife in her hand upward—
The lamp post was sliced into fragments midair.
But that brief moment allowed Fujino to catch a glimpse of an opening.
"I see you—!"
Just as she tried to focus her power—
"Ugh!"
A cry escaped Fujino's lips.
Her vision suddenly blurred, and Asagami Fujino staggered, nearly falling.
The distortion that should have followed her gaze instantly weakened.
At this moment, Fujino couldn't even twist Ryougi Shiki's body.
She probably couldn't even twist open Shiki's clothes.
"H-How is this possible?! It won't work anymore?!"
"It's only this much…"
The one surprised wasn't just Fujino.
Shiki looked disappointed as well.
Fujino was shocked because her ability suddenly failed, something that had never happened since it awakened.
As for Shiki, she simply felt incredibly let down.
She had finally found an opponent who interested her.
And this was it?
That's it?
Seriously, that's it?
Ryougi Shiki had never read Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils. Otherwise, she might have compared Fujino to Duan Yu—whose Six Meridian Divine Sword only worked sometimes and failed the rest of the time.
"Enough, enough. What a disappointment. I'm not interested in you like this."
With that, Shiki turned around and began walking away without even looking back.
Judging from her attitude, she looked like someone whose feelings had been toyed with—like a girl walking away from a scumbag who had broken her heart.
"Just go home and behave yourself. Then we won't meet again."
Listening to Shiki's final advice, watching the kimono-clad girl's figure gradually disappear into the distance—
Fujino remained standing exactly where she was.
Motionless.
Still in the pool of blood.
She had returned to the way she used to be.
Back to that abnormal girl who couldn't feel anything at all… whose sense of pain had completely vanished.
Looking down at the young man's corpse once more, Fujino bit down hard on her lip.
Her skin broke.
Blood flowed down.
But Fujino felt nothing.
Drip
A drop of blood from the corner of her mouth fell into the man's pool of blood.
It was as if the world itself was mocking her—telling her she could never return to being normal.
"No… that's not it…"
Fujino muttered weakly, her voice trembling like someone on the verge of tears.
The words Shiki had spoken earlier—
"We're the same."
Those words had stabbed deeply into her heart.
"No! I'm not like someone like you! I'm not some kind of freak!"
Her entire body trembled.
Fujino hated killing.
Because killing was something unforgivable.
And yet, if she wanted to become normal again, she had to kill.
Only by killing the man named Minato Keita could she regain her sense of pain.
"I have to… find him soon…"
"…so I can feel pain again…"
The surface of the blood pool reflected the corner of Fujino's lips.
She was smiling faintly.
Under the moonlight, the girl looked heartbreakingly beautiful.
The audience watching felt complicated emotions stirring in their hearts.
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"Sigh… she's still too inexperienced."
Watching Fujino smile eerily in the blood, Kayneth crossed his arms and sighed.
"If you rely only on instinct, distortion can't beat the Mystic Eyes of Death."
"Professor, what nonsense are you talking about?" Waver sighed helplessly.
He subconsciously reached into his coat, searching for something, before remembering where he was.
A movie theater.
He withdrew his hand with a bitter expression.
The no-smoking rule inside the theater was torture for an old smoker like him.
"Distortion is the villain. Death Perception is the hero. In movies, villains never beat the hero… hmm, the fizz is gone."
Waver shook his cup.
The look in his eyes was starting to resemble that of a dead fish.
Since he couldn't smoke, he had been suppressing his cravings by drinking cola.
But now his soda had gone flat.
Naturally, that made him even more irritated.
Kayneth remained in the same posture, arms folded.
His eyes narrowed slightly, as if pondering something.
"Even if it can't win, being able to pressure the Mystic Eyes of Death like that is already impressive."
"A Mystic Eye with that level of power… despite never receiving proper training."
He murmured thoughtfully.
"Now that is interesting."
Waver looked somewhat disdainful of Kayneth's evaluation.
"If it didn't have that kind of power, that would be the real problem. After all, those Mystic Eyes were suppressed for years. That Asagami family really was ignorant, forcefully sealing Mystic Eyes like that was fundamentally the wrong approach."
Kayneth shook his head slightly.
"That's because ordinary people can't understand the greatness of Mystery. They only feel fear toward the unknown. Unfortunately, he never sought help from professionals. Acting on his own judgment only made things worse."
"Maybe that's what people mean when they say fate works in mysterious ways," Waver said, rubbing his chin as he analyzed the situation.
"That kind of pressure probably ended up cultivating the ultimate form of distortion."
The artificially induced analgesia placed on Fujino wasn't actually rare within the world of magecraft.
In fact, methods like this—shutting down sensation so that the magical energy flowing through a mage's circuits would accumulate inside the body instead of being wasted—were quite popular within the Atlas Institute.
Under normal circumstances, one would keep their senses sealed. Then, when the senses were reopened at a critical moment, the sudden flood of stimuli could dramatically accelerate the conversion efficiency of the Magic Circuits.
The result would be an explosive surge of power.
From a theoretical standpoint, it was actually a very brilliant idea.
But the execution had many problems.
First was the sealing process.
What was sealed wasn't just the senses, it was also the mage's Magic Circuits.
Which meant all magical research had to be suspended during that time.
And for magi, being unable to research magecraft was practically worse than death.
Secondly, sealing the senses and circuits was like compressing a spring.
And springs always had a limit to how much pressure they could endure.
Once that limit was reached, unpredictable accidents were almost inevitable.
Just like when Asagami Fujino first lost control and slaughtered those four delinquents.
The most critical flaw, however, was this:
Since their Magic Circuits remained sealed most of the time, the magus had no opportunity to train or learn how to control their power.
So once everything was finally released, the result was usually nothing more than a single uncontrollable outburst.
"I seriously suspect this movie is Shinji Matou's criticism of that sensory-suppression training method."
Waver muttered through the straw in his drink.
"Pretty much every possible flaw of that school of thought is reflected in the character of Asagami Fujino."
He added with a dry tone:
"Offending the aristocratic faction of the Clock Tower wasn't enough for him, huh? Now he's planning to open a new front and challenge the lunatics at Atlas too?"
Kayneth, however, remained far calmer than his student.
"There's no need to get nervous, Waver."
"Shinji is merely presenting objective facts. Cases like Asagami Fujino are not uncommon within Atlas Institute."
He paused briefly before continuing.
"They're simply not usually this extreme."
Then Kayneth let out a faint snort.
"Shinji is simply telling them that their efforts are pointless. There's nothing wrong with that."
"That training method is nothing more than a crude attempt to chase greater magical power. It contributes nothing to the academic development of magecraft or to its practical applications."
Kayneth suddenly glanced sideways.
"…Waver. What are you looking at?"
"Nothing."
Waver withdrew his gaze and shook his head slightly.
"I was just thinking… if it were the old you, Professor, you probably would've only cared about whether that method could bring someone closer to the Root. Concerns about the development of magecraft as a whole… that doesn't really sound like something you'd worry about."
He paused, then added with a hint of surprise.
"I never thought you'd have such a… human side to you—"
—Cough
Realizing he had misspoken, Waver immediately shut his mouth and cautiously glanced at his teacher from the corner of his eye.
Kayneth smiled faintly.
He didn't seem angry.
"When you're not in a position of responsibility, you don't concern yourself with governance," Kayneth replied calmly.
"Right now, I'm the leader of the Reformist faction."
Then he suddenly changed tone.
"But!"
His expression shifted abruptly.
"You've got quite the nerve to say that about me, Waver!"
"W-Wait—Professor, that's not what I meant—"
"This week, you will publish two papers in academic journals. The topic will be the disadvantages of sensory-sealing magecraft training."
"You are angry after all!!" Waver wailed.
"Please don't! I'm already swamped this week!"
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Back on the big screen, after Ryougi Shiki lost interest in Asagami Fujino, the perspective shifted to Mikiya Kokutou.
True to his reputation as a human Google search engine, Kokutou managed to locate the delinquent named Minato Keita the very next day.
Compared to Fujino—who had spent half a month searching without results—his efficiency was on an entirely different level.
For Keita, however, the past few days had been like living in a nightmare.
Ever since that terrifying encounter with Fujino, the only thing he dared to do was hide in his room.
He had no other choice.
Especially after he saw the news report revealing that the other survivor who escaped with him had been tracked down by Fujino and twisted into a human pretzel.
That news only made him even more terrified.
Minato Keita's eyes were sunken in. His beard was unkempt, his gaze filled with fear. His skin had grown slack, and strands of white hair covered his head.
The man looked completely hollowed out.
"Poor guy…"
Seeing the miserable state Keita had fallen into, quite a few people in the audience expressed sympathy.
Of course, their sympathy wasn't for Minato Keita the character.
It was for the actor playing him.
Just by looking at him, it was obvious that the actor had suffered quite a bit to portray the role convincingly.
As for the character himself…
The audience had only one word for him:
Serves him right.
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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 455: Shinji — My Awesomeness Has Exceeded Even My Own Expectations[1]
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