"Ah ha ha ha ha...!"
Amidst a burst of unrestrained laughter, Rin, trying to suppress her exasperation, followed the sword-wielding Irisviel's steps forward.
"Hey... that's enough, isn't it..."
..."Hahahaha, no, let me laugh a bit more! My lovely, beautiful, captivating seven-year-old Master was called 'Auntie' by an eight-year-old loli! Do you know how hard I was holding it in just now? Ah ha ha ha ha...!"
"Jalter!!!"
Just as Rin was about to lose her temper and mete out an iron-fisted punishment for the "rebel," the Irisviel leading the way turned around and said:
"Master, this is the core collection room of our Einzbern Clan. It houses the Einzbern's largest and most confidential core technical documents and various treasures from the past millennium. Without the clan leader's unsealing magic, it cannot be opened by any means. If forcibly breached, it will trigger the magic mechanisms beneath each collection, and all treasures in the collection room will be destroyed along with the barrier."
The sword-wielding Irisviel led Rin, Jalter, Artoria, and Black Ya through a hidden door behind the altar of the chapel, entering a narrow, dark passage. At the very end of the passage was a magnificent door, its exquisitely carved, vibrant bas-reliefs inlaid with numerous magic power gems, and layers of barriers protecting the treasures behind it.
"No wonder Acht Einzbern was so decisive when he decided to run; he probably thought his family's treasures would never fall into outsiders' hands. He really underestimated me, huh~"
Rin smiled faintly with disdain, shaking her head. She placed her hand on the door of the Einzbern collection room, and the End Magic, which analyzes all mysteries, rapidly eroded the barrier array on the door. The protective barrier quickly dissolved like snow under the scorching sun. With a loud bang, the door, covered in magical formulas and barriers, shattered in Rin's hand, revealing the space behind it.
In the underground space spanning over a thousand square meters, various treasures of the magic world were neatly arranged. There were tomes of sorcery, magic technical papers, Homunculus design blueprints, as well as magic tools and alchemy texts... Deep within the collection room, Rin also saw 17 crystal coffins neatly lined up, their lids already open, revealing empty bottoms.
"These were the containers used to seal us before. We lay dormant inside them until just now when we were released. It's truly wonderful to have only a day of life to meet our Master!"
Rin nodded with a smile, indicating that they needn't worry too much. However, the Einzbern Clan's collection truly exceeded her expectations. The accumulated wealth of a magical family over a millennium was unimaginably vast. They were indeed worthy of being the oldest of the Three Founding Families of the Holy Grail War.
"Master, there are some interesting discoveries here!"
At this moment, Jalter handed Rin a confidential document sealed by magic, its sealing spell having already been burned away by Jalter's magic flames. Rin took the top-secret document and quickly skimmed through it. Her ability to read ten lines at once allowed her to finish the not-so-extensive confidential document in less than a moment.
"It seems we've gained quite an advantage from this sudden attack. If the records are true, it appears this family's foundation is not just limited to these things; they are truly not to be underestimated!"
After finishing her review, Rin's face broke into an expectant smile. Confidently looking at the information in her hand, Rin walked to a dark corner of the collection room, in front of a wall, and lightly kicked a certain stone brick at the bottom of the wall.
Click!
A brick on the wall was kicked in slightly, and with a click, a hidden door on the wall automatically opened. Instantly, an indescribable scent wafted out.
"This is... indeed the smell of biological culture fluid. Such a mechanism, it's giving me a strong sense of déjà vu!"
Having read the documented information, Rin was not at all surprised by the smell. Instead, she silently complained about the mechanism in her heart, then led the way through the hidden door.
As if passing through something, after turning the last corner underground, Rin's vision suddenly went completely white. The next moment, her sight adjusted to the sudden whiteness, and she clearly saw what was before her.
Even though Rin was well-traveled and mentally prepared, she couldn't help but frown in such a scene. In this pure white space, tightly packed sealed glass culture tanks were arranged. Inside the culture tanks was an unknown liquid resembling amniotic fluid, and within the liquid, pale, sleeping maiden bodies made Rin's eyes blur.
"The Einzbern must be a bunch of gentlemen!"
Having reached this conclusion in her mind, Rin silently picked up the top-secret document in her hand and compared it to the situation in this space, while also strolling through the area.
This was the birthplace of the Einzbern Family's Homunculi. For nearly two hundred years, the lesser grails for numerous Holy Grail Wars were also born here—
This place could be considered the Einzbern's most secret location.
"They are all exquisite, not a single defective product. All are in an unfinished, primordial state. These should be prepared for the future creation of the lesser grail for the next Holy Grail War."
Wandering in this space, Rin openly observed the sleeping maidens inside each glass. They all looked identical, all Homunculi in the form of the winter saintess, just like Irisviel. The only regrettable thing was that these sleeping maidens were completely blank, without any magic inscriptions or enchantments, merely blank objects in their initial completed state.
Faced with this scene, Jalter showed great curiosity, asking Rin many questions as she followed her; the upright and kind Artoria found this difficult to accept. Confronted with hundreds of maidens identical to Irisviel, immersed in a pale green liquid, she appeared particularly flustered and uneasy; the ignorant Black Ya, on the other hand, was completely expressionless and simply followed Rin's steps indifferently, as these things meant nothing to her.
"So many perfect initial models, it seems I can finally put the Einzbern's Homunculus technology to good practice."
Rin spoke softly, her voice low but still echoing throughout the entire space, even producing reverberations, which seemed quite eerie. However, the Irisviel accompanying her didn't mind at all and continued to explore the space with Rin.
"If Master is the one making and adjusting them, there will certainly be no possibility of failure. These sisters will all be perfectly born into this world."
Rin could only smile at Irisviel's trust and praise. Afterwards, the group continued to the deepest part of the secret room, where an ancient and old bookshelf was placed. Rin walked up, casually dispelled the seals on it, and randomly pulled out a book.
"lesser grail Alchemy."
After putting it back, she pulled out another tome.
"The Generation and Attachment of Mimetic Souls."
Needless to say, this place held Einzbern's most core technical archives.
"Well, let me see Einzbern's final secret treasure."
Rin counted along the bookshelf, then found the one she wanted. According to the confidential document, there was more to this book than met the eye.
Rin opened the grimoire to a page with a magic array drawn on it. She then took out the magical pocket watch she had obtained from Acht Einzbern, which could pinpoint teleportation, and placed it on the array. A cerulean Mana Burst enveloped the pocket watch, and then its lid suddenly opened, the hour hand spun rapidly, and the spatial transfer spell activated!
Subsequently, a strange sensation of spatial distortion enveloped Rin's entire body, and Rin arrived in a pure white world.
Up, down, all around, everything was a blank expanse of white; there was nothing. Jalter, Artoria, Black Ya, and Irisviel had not followed.
What's going on? This is different from what was recorded before! And, I feel like I've been here before... Just then, a cheerful and joyful voice rang out:
"Yay! Found a wild Rin, capture her! Go, Master Ball!"
Then Rin felt a spherical object hit her on the head...
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