The door to the hospital room in Tokyo closed once again, shutting out those two retreating figures.
Shinji was currently lying on his back on the bed, his right hand resting gently on his somewhat swollen left cheek.
It stung with a burning pain; that punch from Rin had been solid and completely merciless.
“Hiss…
what a violent woman.”
Though he complained with his mouth, a light called pleasure flickered in his eyes.
That kiss was his final reward for that proud young lady, and also the most absurd farewell to this story called “Fate.”
However, the time for reminiscing was over.
“Although I’d really like to just lie flat, now is not the time for sleeping.”
Shinji struggled to press the call button by the bedside, not to call the nurse, but to pick up his personal belongings nearby: a flip phone that was considered a new model for this era.
It was November 2004.
What did this point in time mean for a transmigrator possessing memories of the future?
It meant this was an era paved with gold.
It was the eve of the smartphone, the rebirth period after the dot-com bubble burst, where countless unicorn companies of the future were still just seedlings.
That pathetic yet beastly old director, Marisbury Animusphere, in order to establish Chaldea and raise those massive funds, even had to participate in the Holy Grail War to wish for money.
It goes to show that in this world, even for a Magus, one cannot move an inch without money.
“Twenty billion yen.”
“With this starting capital, plus my foresight of the future, the commotion I’m going to cause will probably make even the Mages Association’s jaws drop.”
He quickly dialed a number.
That was a high-end security company named Aegis that he had locked onto using information found on the mobile internet after he woke up.
This company didn’t have much of a reputation in the public world, but it was said to have quite a solid background, specializing in serving those wealthy individuals who didn’t want to get involved with the magic side but still required absolute safety.
“I am Shinji.
I want to commission a high-level bodyguard mission.”
Shinji’s voice instantly switched to that arrogant young master tone, “I am currently at Fuyuki Central Hospital.
Within one hour, I want to see someone.
The requirements are simple: female, good at fighting, tight-lipped, and as for looks…
hmph, don’t send anyone that’s an eyesore.”
The person on the other end of the phone was clearly accustomed to such picky clients and respectfully agreed.
After hanging up the phone, Shinji laboriously lifted the blanket.
His body was still very weak, every bone in his body was protesting, and the aftereffects wouldn’t disappear in just a few days.
But he didn’t want to stay in Fuyuki for even a moment longer.
Here, there was Emiya Shirou, there was Rin, there was Sakura.
As long as he was still breathing here for one more second, the gravitational pull of those plot characters would try to drag him back into that quagmire called the villainous supporting role.
In less than forty-five minutes, the hospital room door was knocked upon.
Without any superfluous nonsense, a woman wearing a black form-fitting suit walked in.
She was about twenty-five or twenty-six, her long black hair tied into a capable ponytail, a pair of rimless glasses perched on the bridge of her nose, and she carried a silver metal case in her hand.
Her looks didn’t lose out to those movie stars, and she even carried a kind of biting heroic spirit; that cold temperament that kept people at a distance actually added a few points to her charm.
“Mr.
Matou, I am the special-class security specialist dispatched by Aegis, codenamed Sirius.
I will be in full charge of your upcoming itinerary.”
Her voice was cold and clear, and her eyes showed no fluctuation when they swept over the obvious fist print on Shinji’s face, as if it were just an insignificant decoration.
“Sirius?
Hmph, the name is quite resounding.”
Shinji looked her up and down critically, nodding inwardly.
One look and you could tell she was a professional; she was much more pleasing to the eye than those who hated him.
“Since you’re here, get moving.
I want to go to Tokyo, now, immediately.”
“Understood.
I have already arranged for a helicopter to stand by on the hospital roof, and a transfer plane has already applied for a flight path at Fuyuki Airport.”
As Sirius spoke, she skillfully took out the wheelchair from the side.
Her movements were smooth and fluid, clearly the result of extremely rigorous training.
Sirius walked to the bedside, without the slightest awkwardness, and gently but firmly helped Shinji up.
When her arm passed under Shinji’s armpit, Shinji could feel the astonishing explosive power contained beneath that seemingly slender frame.
The moment he sat in the wheelchair, Shinji let out a long sigh of relief.
Through the window, he took one last look at the scenery of Fuyuki City.
The Mion River that divided Shinto and Miyama Town, the bridge that had witnessed countless battles, were all stained with a layer of blood color under the afterglow of the setting sun.
“Goodbye, Holy Grail War.
Goodbye, Emiya the Hero.”
Shinji recited silently in his heart.
“Push me away.
Let me take you to breathe that fresh air full of the stench of money.”
The helicopter’s rotor blades shredded the twilight clouds.
Shinji sat in the cabin, wearing noise-canceling headphones, watching Fuyuki City beneath his feet gradually shrink into an insignificant black dot.
Sirius sat opposite him, using a computer to confirm the flight path and the safe residence upon arriving in Tokyo.
Her sitting posture was straight; even in the bumpy helicopter, her body maintained a state of vigilance, ready to spring into action at any moment.
“After arriving in Tokyo, first help me register an investment company.”
Shinji suddenly spoke, his voice transmitted to Sirius’s ears through the headphones.
“Company name?”
Sirius didn’t even lift her head, her fingers tapping rapidly on the screen.
“Avengers, no, forget it, too ominous.”
Shinji laughed at himself, recalling that organization that was busy to the point of being scorched while trying to save human order.
Since he just wanted to make money, he shouldn’t ride on that coattail, “Let’s just call it New World Holdings.”
“Business scope?”
“Internet, biomedicine, and energy.”
A glint of light flashed in Shinji’s eyes, “As long as it’s something that can change the way this world operates, I want a hand in it.”
In this world where magic and science coexist, although the mystery side is powerful, it is gradually declining.
And the science side, especially internet technology, is about to welcome explosive growth in the next twenty years.
Then I’ll come to give them a boost, and let those mysteries exit in an even more unseemly way!
As long as I grab the early shares of giants like Facebook, YouTube, and NVIDIA, or lay out plans in that market in China that is about to take off, twenty billion yen will soon become two hundred billion, or even two trillion.
Who says you can’t become strong without Magic Circuits?
With money, even a Magus can only become a donkey turning a millstone.
After all, the saying ‘the poor rely on mutation, the rich rely on technology’ is no lie.
“Understood.
I will contact the best legal team and agents.”
The helicopter landed beside the airport runway, where a Gulfstream private jet was already waiting.
The moment he was pushed onto the plane, Shinji felt an unprecedented sense of ease.
That fear of being hacked to death by Heroic Spirits, eaten by bugs, or turned into a sacrifice by his grandfather at any moment had finally completely dissipated.
Although his body was still a broken vessel, and although he had lost his identity as a fake Magus, he had won the future.
“Tokyo, huh…”
Looking at the blinking navigation lights in the pitch-black night sky outside the window, Shinji poured himself a glass of champagne; although the doctor strictly forbade drinking, he just wanted to celebrate now.
“Just you wait.
The next time you hear the name Shinji, I will make this world shake because of it.”