Chapter 327: Shinji: Rin, Can I Get a Monthly Plan?
Whether the Rin of Fate/Stay Night's world managed her household well or not, Shinji couldn't say. But the Rin he knew? Her household finances could be summed up in a single word: dire.
In fact, "dire" might not even be strong enough—"pitiful" felt more accurate.
Any ordinary magus sent from the Clock Tower to this "remote backwater" of Fuyuki City would never be living as miserably as Rin was.
After all, the Modern Magecraft Department actually gave their dispatched students a generous monthly stipend as compensation for working in such a far-off place. And not just a token sum, either—it was a serious amount of money.
Thanks to Shinji raking in global profits in the entertainment market, the Modern Magecraft Department had become one of the wealthiest divisions in the entire Clock Tower.
To stabilize morale—and to prove that sticking with Modern Magecraft was a guaranteed ticket to the good life—Kayneth had signed off on the highest scholarship in the entire Tower.
It was such a god-tier move that students openly called him "Papa Kay."
The man truly looked after his own, and he was nothing if not generous.
With that kind of stipend as a baseline, any magus stationed in Fuyuki could live quite comfortably—even without lifting a finger. And if they moonlighted on Type-Moon film sets or picked up a few side jobs? Their lives would be positively cushy.
—All except for Rin Tohsaka.
The "Goddess of Poverty." Or more concisely: Pov Goddess.
From an outsider's perspective, Rin's life should've been the very picture of wealth.
She was a local, after all. Living expenses were much lower for her than for other out-of-town magi.
On top of that, Rin not only worked as a technical consultant for gem magecraft on nearly every Type-Moon set, but she also had a major acting role in Fate/Kaleid Liner Magical Illya.
Yes, Shinji was notoriously stingy with actor salaries—but only in relative terms. Compared to Hollywood A-listers who could pocket tens of millions plus box office cuts, Rin's pay was nothing.
But considering her workload, the payments she received for consulting and acting should've been more than enough to cover her expenses—even factoring in how costly gem magecraft research could get.
The problem was, Rin owed a lot.
From her time in London to her return to Fuyuki, every scrap of collateral damage she racked up in her constant feuds with Luvia had piled into an astronomical debt.
And that wasn't even counting her grand stunt right before coming home—one that nearly crippled the entire Modern Magecraft Department.
Kayneth was generous, yes. But not that generous.
He hadn't let Rin and Luvia off the hook. Every piece of damage they caused had to be repaid out of their own pockets.
To be fair, Kayneth was merciful enough to charge them the internal replacement cost rather than the full external market price.
Even so, it was ruinous.
For Luvia, born into wealth and practically swimming in gold, the expenses were little more than a minor inconvenience. She could replace every piece of equipment in the Modern Magecraft Department without batting an eyelash.
But for Rin? Those numbers might as well have been the national debt.
It was laughable. Even if Rin Tohsaka sold herself to the Association, sealed away in formalin as a designated specimen, the payout wouldn't come close to covering what she owed.
And there was no way she could ever admit this to her family.
Explaining to her father that she'd somehow managed to rack up such an insane debt while studying abroad at the Clock Tower? Even if Tokiomi could pay it off, even if he would pay it off… the shame alone would crush her.
Shame so deep, in fact, that Tokiomi might very well decide he needed to try for another heir—popping blue pills if necessary to ensure a "backup account" with his wife.
In theory, a student who'd sunk herself into such overwhelming debt to the Modern Magecraft Department should've been forced into hard labor to pay it off.
Fortunately for Rin Tohsaka, though she herself was broke, she happened to have a certain wealthy childhood friend named Shinji Matou.
And so, after some negotiation, Rin's creditor quietly shifted from the Modern Magecraft Department… to Shinji himself.
Rin's first instinct, of course, was to reject this arrangement outright.
Forget anything else—just the fact that Shinji was Fuyuki's most notorious beast was enough to give her nightmares.
Not that she would ever consider defaulting. Rin wasn't the kind to dodge her debts. But the mere thought that she might fail to repay and end up forced into "this or that" by Shinji… it was enough to rob her of sleep and appetite.
The one small comfort was that Shinji, at the very least, wouldn't blab about her debt to her father.
Still, owing Shinji such a massive sum wasn't a sustainable situation. Not when she also had the bottomless pit of gem magecraft research constantly draining her finances.
And so, in order to claw her way to financial freedom as quickly as possible—and finally devote herself fully to magecraft—Rin decided to pick up some part-time work whenever her filming schedule left her free.
After all, even a mosquito's leg was still meat. Anything she could chip away at the debt with was worth it.
Flipping through countless job listings, she finally came across one that seemed almost too perfect: a housemaid position, offering 10,000 yen an hour.
No—on second thought, "tailor-made" was more accurate.
The job description was simple housekeeping. Requirements: female, ages sixteen to twenty, students acceptable.
And if the applicant happened to have long black hair, stood at 159 cm, bust 77-waist 57-hips 80, with sharp eyes and looked particularly good in red clothing—then the hourly rate went up by another 5,000 yen.
"…This… this is practically charity pricing!?"
Staring at the absurdly generous conditions, Rin's rationality short-circuited on the spot.
Never mind anything else—the extra 5,000 yen bonus alone was enough to tempt her into reckless abandon.
And if the homeowner did try anything untoward, well, Rin Tohsaka had been practicing Bajiquan for over a decade. It wasn't for nothing!
Besides, the ad made it crystal clear: this was legitimate housework, nothing illegal involved.
"It's basically my calling…"
Rin's eyes sparkled with the shine of pure yen signs.
"Looking back now… I was completely blinded by the stench of money. If only I'd stopped to think…"
"Oi, maid. What are you spacing out for? Hurry up and clean."
"You—!"
Her reminiscence shattered by that lazy drawl, Rin felt a surge of heat rise inside her. Her hands clenched tighter and tighter until—
Crack!
The broom handle in her grip snapped neatly into three pieces.
Slowly, Rin turned toward the couch.
There, a certain blue-haired seaweed-head was sprawled out in a perfect slouch, face radiating utter contentment.
"Rin~ we may be old acquaintances, but business is business."
Shinji's eyes glinted with mischief as he glanced at her maid uniform and said,
"A part-time job means working properly. My 15,000 yen an hour isn't for nothing."
"…Got it."
"And the smile?"
"…Got it~~"
Though her hands had twisted the broom handle into something resembling a rope of dough, Rin still forced her lips into a strained upward curve.
"Tsk tsk. Why does your smile look like you're about to cry?"
"Ma↑tou↓ Shin↑ji↑!!"
Flames of wrath roared to life behind Rin, threatening to incinerate not just the living room but Shinji along with it.
Alas, imaginary fire couldn't burn reality. Her pride—and her nature—would never allow her to actually torch her creditor alive.
"Really… I was far too naive back then."
Rin let out a long, weary sigh.
Blinded by that job ad, she had rushed headlong into the interview. After a perfunctory screening, she was accepted on the spot.
But the moment the agency escort led her into the Matou residence… Rin's entire world collapsed.
The job ad had only listed a specific address. It hadn't bothered to note that said address was the Matou residence.
And because Rin was so familiar with the Matou family, she'd only remembered the house's location—never the written address.
That was how, with the contract already signed, Rin Tohsaka found herself doing part-time maid work… in the Beast's Den itself.
"Looking back now… that extra 5,000 yen for the 'ideal candidate' description was clearly talking about me! And this perfectly tailored maid outfit—seriously?!"
Her cheeks blazing red, Rin stomped her foot and glared at Shinji.
"Shinji! How the hell did you know my measurements!?"
"That?"
Shinji didn't even bother lifting his eyelids.
"Ask the costume department. And yeah, the outfit was prepared in advance—but it's not new."
"…"
Rin froze. Slowly, her eyes trailed down to the uniform she was wearing. Her expression twisted.
She recognized it. This was the test costume she'd once worn for Magical Illya.
At the time, the staff had told her they were experimenting with different design elements for the final magical girl outfits. Rin had wondered why none of the finished costumes had any hint of "maid" to them.
Now she knew exactly where that design element had ended up. On her.
"You bastard— don't tell me you planned this from the start? This was all part of your scheme!?"
Shinji gave her a devilish grin.
"Why don't you take a guess?"
"Guess your big stupid head, you damn evil director!"
Shinji sighed theatrically and shook his head.
"Come on, come on. I'm doing you a favor, letting you pay off your debts so much faster. How can you say such hurtful things?"
Rin's voice shot up an octave.
"I'm starting to think you deliberately let me rack up this debt, just so you could pull crap like this!"
"Was I the one who told you to pick fights with Luvia?"
"…!"
Rin choked. Not a word in rebuttal came out.
Shinji's smirk deepened, his expression smug enough to make the tax bureau come knocking.
"And knowing you, if I told you I'd just wipe the debt clean, you'd be furious. You'd dig your heels in and force yourself to pay me back."
"…!"
Rin stayed silent. But her expression confirmed every word.
"See? You've always been like this. Prideful to the point of suffering."
Putting on his best wise-elder act, Shinji added solemnly,
"Back in middle school, you borrowed 500 yen from me to buy lunch, then immediately donated it to the student fundraiser just because they flattered you with 'Of course someone as amazing as Tohsaka-senpai will support us.'"
"Stop bringing up the past!" Rin ground her teeth in frustration.
She remembered it all too well.
Back then, after one of her magic experiments failed, she'd burned through all her allowance. Desperate not to leave a bad impression on her father, she'd borrowed 500 yen from Shinji for lunch.
And then—no sooner had the coins left Shinji's hand than Rin was guilt-tripped into donating the lot, swept up by a line of cheap flattery.
Rin Tohsaka, the eternal champion of pride over practicality.
And, by the way, Shinji had only lent her that 500 yen at a tidy little 10% interest rate per ten days.
On paper, such a small loan would've been easy to pay off in a month.
But for "various reasons," Rin had dragged it out to this very day.
Heh.
Shinji didn't even bother to mention the ancient debt. Instead, he said lightly,
"Rin, I'm letting you pay me back with honest labor. And you don't even have to go do shady part-time jobs outside. You really ought to be grateful."
"Oh? Should I thank you, then?"
"Of course!"
Rin's fist itched. She very nearly swung it straight into his smug face.
"Anyway, Rin."
Shinji crooked a finger at her like she was his personal servant.
"I've been working so hard these past two days. My shoulders are killing me. Massage them for me, will you?"
Crunch!
The broom handle disintegrated into sawdust in Rin's grip.
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