"Jubstacheit von Einzbern, Eighth Head of the Einzbern Family, pays respects to the Family Head!"
Ahad, the eighth head of the Einzbern Family, walked up to Leon and knelt on one knee. With utmost reverence and sincerity, he addressed Leon as the Family Head.
"Oh? What's this about?"
Leon turned toward Ahad, still holding the three little girls in his arms.
"You have completed the Third Magic—Heaven's Feel. In accordance with the ancient contract, the Einzbern Family shall acknowledge you, the Third Magician, as its Family Head."
Ahad lowered his head and replied with absolute reverence.
"I see. Get up."
A faint, indifferent smile appeared on Leon's face.
"As for becoming the Family Head of the Einzbern Family, I have no reason to refuse."
"From this moment onward, I am the Ninth and final Family Head of the Einzbern Family—Leon Stark Odinson von Einzbern."
"Yes, my lord!"
Upon hearing this, Ahad raised his head. For the first time, a relieved smile appeared on the stern, aged face of the old man.
The thousand-year-old wish of the Einzbern Family had finally been fulfilled in his generation!
Holding the three little girls, Leon passed through the gates and entered Einzbern Castle.
The first thing that greeted his eyes was several dozen Homunculus Combat Maids, all identical in appearance and attire, as though they had been copied and pasted. They stood neatly arranged on both sides of the castle's grand hall, waiting respectfully for him.
Illyasviel's two personal maids, Sella and Leysritt, each led a group of maids and stood at the very front, closest to Leon.
The moment Leon entered, they bowed simultaneously and called out respectfully:
"Family Head!" ×N
"Hahahahahaha!"
Seeing this scene, Leon could not help bursting into laughter.
Homunculus maids really were a wonderful civilization.
With just a little modification, every last one of them would be top-tier!
Tonight,
was destined to be sleepless!
The long-silent and frigid Einzbern Castle had finally become lively again.
"Leon, why didn't Kiritsugu come back with you?"
At the celebratory banquet, Illyasviel sat on Leon's thigh and asked in her sweet, childish voice.
Beside them,
Sakura Matou was sitting on Leon's other thigh, while Rin Tohsaka stubbornly occupied her VIP spot, afraid that Sakura or Illya would take it away from her.
Even when Rin ate, Leon simply fed her himself.
"Kiritsugu has things of his own to take care of, so he isn't coming back," Leon explained.
"He isn't coming back?"
Illya sounded a little disappointed.
"Does that mean Kiritsugu doesn't want Illya anymore?"
Leon smiled and shook his head.
"Kiritsugu not coming back doesn't mean you can't leave."
"Huh?!"
Illya looked up in surprise.
"Really?! But Grandpa Ahad wouldn't let me go outside. He always made me stay in the castle..."
As she spoke, Illya looked pitifully toward Ahad, who was sitting nearby and meticulously cutting his steak with a knife and fork.
When Ahad noticed her gaze, he calmly said,
"Illya, everything in the Einzbern Family now follows the will of the Family Head. You need not ask for my opinion."
"Furthermore, the moment the Third Magic was completed, your confinement lost its purpose."
"Now, so long as the Family Head permits it, you may go wherever you wish."
"You are… free."
As he spoke those final words, a faint smile appeared on Ahad's face.
The Einzbern Family's homunculus technology was exceptionally advanced. Otherwise, they would never have produced homunculi as emotionally rich as Irisviel and Illyasviel.
As the oldest surviving member of the Einzbern homunculus system, it was impossible for Ahad to possess no personal feelings whatsoever. Otherwise, he would never have developed the intelligence necessary to maintain and manage Einzbern Castle for all these years.
It was simply that Ahad had buried those personal feelings beneath the Einzbern Family's thousand-year-old obsession:
the complete realization of the Third Magic.
Nothing could be more important than fulfilling the Einzbern Family's long-held wish.
Now, with Leon having gained complete control over the Third Magic, Ahad had finally attained a kind of spiritual freedom as well.
He no longer needed to face everything with the cold, mechanical attitude he had maintained for so long.
Because that attitude had merely been a "wall around his heart" that he had deliberately constructed to slow his own emotional deterioration.
Late that night,
Leon awoke on a huge, soft bed surrounded by more than a dozen Homunculus Combat Maids.
The moment he stepped out of bed, Bastet in her maid form, who had been silently attending him at the bedside, immediately approached to dress him and fasten his belt.
As for Arcee A2 and YoRHa 2B, Leon had sent them to accompany the three little girls and Aoi Tohsaka.
Only by doing this could Leon, who had been practically glued to the three little girls all night, finally find some free time to properly investigate the secrets behind the Einzbern Family's specialized Homunculus Combat Maids.
After his investigation, the results were exactly as expected.
Every last one of them was top-tier.
Their physical functions were no different from those of ordinary humans, yet because they were homunculi, their physical specifications were all exceptional. Even their Magic Circuits were at the upper limit of what an ordinary magus could possess.
Although artificially created Magic Circuits could never achieve one hundred percent of the performance of naturally occurring Magic Circuits, even ninety percent was already formidable.
And with the sheer amount of resources the Einzbern Family had poured into them, ordinary magi such as Shirou Emiya could not hope to compare.
After all, Shirou Emiya's greatest weakness was his pitiful supply of magical energy.
He possessed an extraordinary configuration far beyond that of an ordinary magus:
Projection Magecraft, capable of perfectly reproducing the physical parameters and skills of a weapon's former wielder;
and Broken Phantasm, which could temporarily raise a projected Noble Phantasm—normally one rank below the original—to its original rank before detonating it.
Yet Shirou simply lacked the magical energy necessary to truly unleash the full potential of those abilities.
By contrast, as artificial creations, these Homunculus Combat Maids also generally lacked the inherent elemental concepts possessed by ordinary magi.
For example, Kiritsugu Emiya's "Severing and Binding", or Shirou Emiya's "Sword" affinity.
But under the infusion of Leon's Third Magic, everything could become possible.
They would become no different from true human beings.
They would serve as Leon's original capital for establishing himself in this Moonlit World.
Walking through the corridors of Einzbern Castle, Leon clasped his hands behind his back and contemplated what he should do next.
After obtaining the Third Magic—Heaven's Feel, according to that old man who enjoyed peeping on everyone else, Leon could now be considered to have graduated from this "school."
Even so, just like that old man who loved secretly observing others, there were still countless monsters and hidden powers lurking in the shadows of this world.
Notes on a Steel Earth and Moonlight/Lunar Coral each represented the end of something:
the end of Earth,
and the end of humanity.
Leon had no idea how much weight he currently carried, or whether he had enough power to participate in either calamity.
But even so, it was impossible for him to resolve these two great disasters through his own strength alone.
After all, Zelretch, the Jewel Sword user, had continuously observed parallel worlds and assisted in the completion of the Third Magic through the Holy Grail War precisely so that humanity would have another source of strength with which to resist the calamity of the Land of Steel.
"What a hassle~"
Leon helplessly shook his head.
He had never liked exhausting himself with unnecessary worries.
Besides, when the sky fell, someone taller could always hold it up.
He was not going to concern himself with all that.
As long as he could enjoy himself now, he would keep enjoying himself.
That much was unquestionably true.
"Where's the sheath?"
Stopping in front of the room where the three little girls were staying, Leon suddenly asked.
"Right here."
Bastet in her maid form flipped her hand, and Avalon immediately appeared from inside the skirt of her maid uniform.
She respectfully held the sheath out to Leon with both hands.
Leon gently stroked Avalon's smooth, rounded surface.
Even now, it was difficult for him to imagine exactly what kind of overwhelming power this sheath contained as the ultimate defense of the Moonlit World.
Even he could not see through Avalon.
A Sixth Miracle, one that even the Five True Magics could scarcely reach…
As expected…
"This is interesting."
◇ BONUS & SUPPORT
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 10 reviews — drop a comment!
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ Read 70+ chapters ahead on P@treon → patreon.com/Sagamaster789