It could not even be called a fight.
The moment Irisviel said, "It's fine if you're a little rough," the situation, which had still been somewhat balanced, tipped completely to one side. Shirou and Leysritt instantly subdued every Homunculus soldier present.
On one hand, it was because Shirou himself possessed Heroic Spirit-level combat ability, and because Leysritt's performance as the Dress of Heaven far exceeded that of the Einzbern combat Homunculi.
On the other hand, it was also thanks to the coordination Shirou and Leysritt had built over so many years of living under the same roof.
While Shirou and Leysritt were bringing the situation under control, Irisviel and Sella were not idle either.
"Madam! I've pinned down Great-Grandfather!"
"Well done, Sella!"
"You two! This is rebellion! Stop at once! Mmph, mmph, mmph!"
"Grandfather, you're the one who should stop resisting at this point. It's time you faced reality and surrendered quietly!"
After a frantic struggle, the two of them finally managed to tie Acht up.
By the time more Homunculi arrived, everything was already over.
In front of the gathered Homunculi, Irisviel announced that she would succeed as the ninth head of the Einzbern family.
However, this was not an order or an act of coercion.
Irisviel said she was willing to give every member of the Einzbern a chance to choose.
"Will you continue to obey Grandfather and pursue the Greater Grail and the Third Magic, or will you trust me and allow me to lead the Einzbern from now on?
Please discuss it among yourselves and tell me your decision.
Until you reach an answer, I will wait patiently."
After saying that, Irisviel left the chapel with Acht, who had been bound hand and foot in silver threads.
The Homunculi left behind were at a loss and remained silent.
They must have been deeply confused as well. After all, nothing like this had ever happened in the history of the Einzbern.
...
A room in the City of Winter.
This was the room Irisviel had used when she still lived in the castle.
Although she had been away for so many years, the furnishings inside were exactly as she remembered them.
Even though her own kind saw her as a traitor, her room and the traces of her life there had not been erased.
Perhaps it was because Homunculi did not have the custom of destroying the belongings of someone they resented in order to vent their feelings.
After all, aside from Acht, all artificial lifeforms were infants with the appearance of young girls and simple, childlike minds.
Irisviel stopped by the windowsill and gazed out at the endless blizzard outside.
"Haha, I really went and did it... Now I'm going to become the greatest sinner in Einzbern history..."
Irisviel pressed down on her trembling hand.
The rebellion just now had not been an impulse. It was something she had planned in advance, though she had not told anyone, Shirou included.
Even though she had prepared herself for it, now that she had actually gone this far, Irisviel still found it hard to believe.
She looked at herself in the full-length mirror.
As a Homunculus, Irisviel had looked this way from the moment she was born.
Unlike ordinary humans, she could not grow, nor would she age.
Until the moment she died, her appearance would never change.
No wonder some Magi called artificial lifeforms "dolls"...
In their eyes, Homunculi were probably no different from monsters.
But…
Although her appearance had not changed, Irisviel felt that something inside her had changed greatly.
Back when she first left this room and set out for the Holy Grail War, she never would have believed that she would soon betray the Einzbern, much less return years later and start a rebellion.
Meeting Saber had changed her.
The world she saw outside had changed her.
More importantly, Shirou had changed Irisviel.
Could this... be called growth?
Irisviel did not know.
From a Homunculus's perspective, this was a shameful fall. She had become as base as a human.
But Irisviel felt that this was not so bad.
She even wanted everyone in the Einzbern to experience this stirring feeling inside her.
That was exactly why she wanted to seize the position of head of the Einzbern family.
"Sigh... But I did go a little too far. They definitely hate me now..."
Just then, the door to the room was flung open.
"Iri!!!"
Irisviel smiled. "Honestly, how can you enter a lady's room without knocking?
Shirou, I don't remember raising you to be such an ill-mannered boy."
Shirou strode over to Irisviel.
He looked angry, clearly here to question her.
It was the first time Irisviel had ever seen Shirou take that attitude with her, and she thought, Ah, but Shirou is cute like this too, hehe.
"Why would you do something so reckless? Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?" Shirou said.
"It wasn't dangerous. Shirou promised he would protect me, after all."
The silver-haired Homunculus smiled. "Isn't that right, my knight?"
"..."
The corner of Shirou's mouth twitched. He had not expected to dig his own grave like this.
"Even if I will protect you... what was that just now supposed to be?
Iri, are you really planning to take over the Einzbern's affairs?"
"Of course."
"Why?"
"Because this is my home."
"Don't give me such a vague answer! Besides, Iri, you already..."
You only have a few days left to live. Shirou could not bring himself to say the rest of that cruel sentence.
"Ah, yes, I really do only have a few days left to live. I'm very sorry about that."
"That's not what I meant..."
"But Shirou, you don't want me to die, do you?"
"Of course I don't!"
"Then that settles it. Since this is your wish, Shirou, of course I'll answer it.
So I've decided to live properly... and enjoy the rest of my life as the ninth head of the Einzbern family."
Irisviel placed both hands on her hips as she spoke.
"Iri..."
Shirou looked relieved. "I'm glad you can think that way."
It was good that Irisviel had changed her mind, but what did she plan to do?
The Einzbern had no way to extend her life... What were they supposed to do?
"I was forced into thinking this way by Shirou, you know."
"Yes, yes."
With a wry smile, Shirou stepped forward and tried to take Irisviel's hand, but she dodged him.
"Do not put your hands on a lady."
"...Are you angry?"
"Not at all~"
"I'm sorry. My tone was a little harsh just now."
Irisviel gave a little huff. "This is the first time I've ever met such a frightening knight~
If it were Saber, she would never be so fierce with me."
Shirou scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "I really shouldn't have compared myself to Saber... I overestimated myself."
"Hehehe, I was joking. You don't need to compare yourself to Saber. In my heart, Shirou is the best knight too."
Hearing her say that, Shirou felt a little embarrassed and turned his head to look out the window. But Irisviel took the initiative to link her arm through his and forcibly pulled him out of the room.
"Where is this...?"
Irisviel brought Shirou to another room in the castle.
Inside, more than a dozen Homunculi lay quietly. They were the Homunculi Shirou and Leysritt had defeated during the sudden rebellion not long ago.
Although Shirou had controlled his strength, that only meant he had spared their lives. If he wanted to achieve a strategic victory, it was impossible for them to come away completely unharmed.
"Madam, what are you doing in a place like this...!?"
Sella, who was tending to the wounded, looked at Irisviel in surprise.
She kept signaling with her eyes and shot Shirou a reproachful look. Shirou only shrugged, indicating that he had been dragged into this too.
"Sella, how is everyone?"
"Not good."
Sella did not hide anything and answered honestly.
She and Leysritt had treated the external wounds in an emergency, but external wounds were all they could handle.
Artificial lifeforms were, by nature, mass-produced products of Magecraft.
Sella and Leysritt had been created as Irisviel's attendants, elites among elites, but these Homunculi were different.
With the same amount of resources, raising performance in one area inevitably meant deficiencies elsewhere.
Combat Homunculi were often disposable tools. From the very beginning, "durability" had never been part of their design.
Once a combat Homunculus was injured, making a new one was clearly more cost-effective than repairing the old one.
Irisviel led Shirou to one of the injured.
The moment she approached, the Homunculus grew wary. Irisviel paid it no mind, crouching in front of the girl and beginning to cast Magecraft.
After a while, she nodded thoughtfully. "I see. Her Magic Circuits must be damaged... Shirou."
Irisviel looked back at the boy behind her. "Could I ask you to repair this child?"
Shirou frowned. "Repair?"
Irisviel nodded. "Yes. Just like when you fix appliances at home...
Um, the basic framework, analyze... constituent materials, things like that... that one."
"You mean Reinforcement Magecraft?"
"Yes, exactly. No matter how many times I see Shirou's Reinforcement Magecraft, it still feels amazing," Irisviel said with a smile.
Could a Homunculus's body really be treated like an appliance?
With that question in mind, Shirou walked over to the injured girl.
The Homunculus looked tense, her eyes full of resistance. After all, Shirou was the one who had injured her.
Seeing that, Irisviel said, "It's all right. My Shirou is a good boy, he won't hurt you~"
"Don't talk about me like I'm a pet dog."
Shirou rolled his eyes, placed his hand near the girl's collarbone, and used Reinforcement Magecraft on her with a try-it-and-see attitude.
Soon, under Shirou's "treatment," the Homunculus girl's immobile legs became able to walk again.
Irisviel clapped her hands in delight. "Ooh, amazing... As expected of Shirou! How did you do that?"
The girl Shirou had saved wore a complicated expression.
In the end, she did not thank him. She simply walked away in silence.
"All right, let's check the next one. The combination of Shirou and me might be invincible!"
Shirou had wanted to say that he could find the damaged internal areas himself and did not need her diagnosis.
But not wanting to dampen Irisviel's enthusiasm, he wisely said nothing.
And so, by the time most of the emergency patients had been properly "treated," it was already past two in the morning.
"Ah, I'm exhausted. Let's hurry back, take a bath, and sleep... Shirou, do you want to sleep with me tonight?"
"No."
"Huh~~~~~~~ Stingy!"
"Good night, Shirou."
"Good night, Leysritt. Iri is in your hands."
"Mm. Will protect Madam well."
Shirou parted from Irisviel and the others at the corner of the long corridor and headed toward the guest rooms.
Just then, a girl hurried after him from behind.
"Hm? You were still here?"
It was the Homunculus who had first received Shirou's "treatment."
Shirou said, "Your leg hasn't fully healed yet. Don't run around. Go lie down."
"...Why?"
"Hm?"
The girl asked, "Why are you helping us?"
Shirou answered without hesitation. "Because you're Irisviel's kin, and she sincerely wants to help you."
The girl bit her lip. "If Lady Irisviel truly cared about the Einzbern...
Then back then, she should have persisted and let the Greater Grail manifest... She betrayed us."
"That's not true... That isn't what you think. It's the will of the Einzbern."
"We are the Einzbern."
"That's true, but you aren't only the Einzbern... You are also yourselves."
Perhaps Shirou's words were too difficult to understand, because the Homunculus girl looked deeply confused.
Shirou explained, "When you were injured earlier... weren't you feeling awful?
But after you were healed, didn't you feel much better?
That's your own will. Not the will of the Einzbern as a whole, but your own thoughts."
The girl said earnestly, "That is... a mistaken selfish desire. I should not have thoughts like that...
If my sacrifice can fulfill the Einzbern's dearest wish, I would gladly."
"Ngh!"
Shirou flicked her forehead, looking displeased.
"Why are you so inflexible? Your own thoughts and the will of the Einzbern as a whole don't have to conflict.
Justeaze was certainly great... but you don't have to go as far as she did, and you don't need to feel ashamed about that.
If everyone could sacrifice themselves like the Holy Maiden, then what would make the Holy Maiden special?"
"..."
The girl was shaken.
Shirou's words had struck her hard.
"Can I... have my own thoughts too...?"
"If Irisviel becomes the next head of the family, she'll definitely be proud of you."
Shirou waved and headed toward his room, leaving the girl standing there in a daze.
The next evening, in the chapel.
The representatives of the Homunculi told Irisviel their answer.
After three rounds of voting by all members, the Homunculi ultimately decided to accept Irisviel's proposal.
The ancient Einzbern clan, which had existed since before the Common Era, welcomed its ninth head.
Now, the only remaining problem was how to extend Irisviel's life.