The origin of the Einzbern Clan was initially a workshop established by the disciples of the previous Magus of the Third Magic, aiming to achieve the Third Magic, and it had continued since the first year of the Western Calendar.
They attempted to reproduce the miracle of the Third Magic but couldn't achieve it with their own hands.
As an alternative, they created an individual identical to their master, and that individual would then reproduce the magic.
At the end of nearly nine centuries of futility, the Homunculus known as the winter saintess—Justitia—was created.
She was created entirely by accident; although she deviated from the Maguss' intentions, her performance was identical to their master's, which was beyond their expectations.
The Maguss, who should have joyfully welcomed Justitia, could not bring themselves to be happy.
After all, it was a sudden mutation unrelated to their technology or efforts.
Even if this individual reproduced the Third Magic.
For them, this was a 'conclusion' more unbearable than the nine centuries of frustration they had endured.
The Maguss began to strive to create a Homunculus that surpassed Justitia using their own technological system.
The central control AI of the Einzbern castle—Golem Jubstacheit—was the crystallization of their technology, the father of all Homunculi.
Justitia, the proof of the Third Magic, succeeded.
However, the cost was extremely high.
Justitia's Third Magic was like a finely woven fabric.
It took years to save one person, but it could never be completed for the salvation of all humanity.
At the same time, although Justitia herself did not age, she could die due to her fragile body, so she could not leave the castle.
Due to her intellectual and spiritual immortality, she did not grow at all.
Objectively speaking, it was like 'repeating the same day forever.'
Although leaving the castle would free her from the same day, what happened outside the castle meant a slow death for Justitia.
The end eventually arrived.
Even if human hands could create something that surpassed humanity, they could not create something that could save humanity; they accepted this fact.
Perhaps, if a miracle like Justitia had not occurred, they would not have suffered such frustration.
The Maguss succumbed to the limits of their own talent; some left the castle, while others ended their lives.
Although the remaining Homunculi of Einzbern were abandoned by their creators, their purity kept the Maguss' ideals—the workshop established for the salvation of humanity and the reproduction of miracles—running.
It wasn't a great belief, but merely like machines that continued to work because their task was unfinished.
Since then, all Homunculi created by Einzbern have been modeled after Justitia.
Jubstacheit was both the created humanoid terminal and the administrator used by Einzbern.
Ultimately, even up to Zwert Einzbern, the eighth-generation humanoid terminal, the Jubstacheit operating did not possess a personality.
Regardless, as 'the thing that operates the castle' and 'the thing that reproduces the Third Magic,' the necessary 'humanity' had to be implanted into the humanoid terminal each time; otherwise, it would merely have the appearance of a human.
The essence of Jubstacheit was an automatic device that 'operates forever at the cost of not being able to progress.'
Its proper form was like an ancient clock, tirelessly marking time, and completely forgotten in people's memories before its self-destruction.
Therefore, what is called the Einzbern Clan actually does not even contain a single true human; it is entirely a family of Homunculi continuing to create new Homunculi, constantly repeating this process.
Or perhaps it cannot be called a family, but merely an automatic factory disguised as a family, operating forever.
Here, there is no family affection, no humanity; it is not qualified to be called a family.
Everything is just a magical factory operating as a matter of course for its purpose, and it is natural that such an existence would be destroyed for being behind the times.
"The protective concealment barrier has been broken; the Einzbern Clan must have already received an intrusion alert.
We are still hundreds of kilometers from the castle, and it's inconvenient to bring you along.
Let's go and finish this quickly."
Rin instructed Kiritsugu Emiya, who nodded in agreement.
"If the Einzbern Clan sees my appearance, they might take Illya as a hostage, which would lead to unnecessary complications."
Kiritsugu Emiya took out a locket pendant from his worn-out, dusty coat and handed it to Rin.
"It has a picture of Illya inside, and Artoria also knows the Little Girl.
Give this to her when you find her, and she will understand.
Anyway, please!"
Rin took the pendant and pressed the switch next to the small locket.
Inside, the embedded photo showed Kiritsugu Emiya with a cute Little Girl of four or five years old sitting on his shoulder, with snow-white silver hair, sparkling eyes, and an innocent, playful smile on a pure, flawless face just like Irisviel's.
Rin smiled, closed the cover, and said:
"I understand.
Jalter, Artoria, Black Ya, let's go!"
Before the word 'go' had even fully left her lips, the figures of the four stunningly beautiful young women vanished instantly from their original spot.
The immense sonic boom and violent airflow caused by the non-streamlined objects moving at super high speed in the air once again lifted the snow beneath their feet and all around them into the sky, where it drifted with the cold wind.
"It's hard to imagine that this is a child a year younger than Illya..."
Kiritsugu Emiya watched the figures of the four, who had already sped out of sight in the blink of an eye, and sighed to himself.
The destructive sonic boom caused by breaking the sound barrier severely twisted the atmosphere wherever they passed.
Though only four people were running, they exuded the might of a thousand cavalry charging, approaching the distant City of Snow at an extreme speed that the naked eye could not capture...
Jalter, Artoria, and Black Ya all materialized their respective Heroic Spirit armaments while running.
Jalter wore a bewitching black battle suit, Artoria donned a blue dress with silver armor, and Black Ya was clad in ink-black knight armor.
Jalter looked at Rin, who was still in ordinary casual clothes, and couldn't help but say to Rin through their contractual mental link while running at full speed:
"Master, aren't you going to transform?
Speaking of which, among the four of us, you're the only true Magical Girl, aren't you?"
Rin, who was running at top speed with full concentration, suddenly received this message through their mental link. Rin stumbled, nearly falling in the snow!
Then, she glared fiercely at Jalter.
"What have you been doing cooped up at home all this time?!"
"Well, nothing much. I just recently saw an anime about Magical Girls and, thinking of Master who just became a Magician, I paid some attention to it. I found it quite interesting, and Black Ya is even waiting by the TV every day for it."
"That's why Saber doesn't like you! You've led the child astray!"
"Hehe. Alright, Master, the first wave of miscellaneous enemies to intercept us has appeared."
In front of Rin and the others' line of sight, thousands of humanoid figures armed with swords and weapons were rapidly approaching Rin's direction like an organized army. With Rin and Jalter's extraordinary abilities, they could clearly see that the faces of all the thousands of Homunculi approaching like an army were identical to Irisviel's!
It seems the Einzbern Family has truly been poisoned by Takeuchi; their Homunculi, even after a thousand iterations, all have the same face. And the three by her side are the same, monotonous and uncreative... though still very endearing.
If one were to ask what the Einzbern Clan has the most of, it would undoubtedly be Homunculi. However, not all Homunculi are like Irisviel, almost indistinguishable from real people. Aside from the family's core leadership and the few who hold the Einzbern's highest secrets and technology, the vast majority are like magical robots, operating like machines.
These Homunculi intercepting Rin and the others are merely mass-produced combat Homunculi, mostly devoid of thought. They are only awakened when needed, and once activated, their body cells and heart organs rapidly age and decay, making them defective products that last no more than ten days from activation to natural death.
"Their performance is quite good. If you only consider their combat power and nothing else, each has the fighting strength of a Priest-rank Magus. But this level is still not enough!"
Rin's speed did not decrease. She materialized a fist-sized sphere of mercury in her hand and hurled it forcefully towards the distant Homunculus army.
"It's decided, it's you! Go, MIKU!"
"Master, your wicked taste is no less than mine..."
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