From a human perspective, the behavior of the Einzbern family is highly contradictory.
On one hand, this family isn't concerned with material wealth. They don't care about what they eat, how they dress, or their living conditions.
On the other hand, their standards for traveling are absurdly high. Chartering cars, boats, planes—no matter where they go or what method of transportation they use, they must have it all to themselves. As for accommodations, whenever they need a place to stay, they directly buy land and build a castle. Only when time is insufficient to do they consider purchasing an existing residence.
Of course, from a homunculus point of view, this makes perfect sense. Homunculi are rigid in their behavior and don't care about material things because, to them, such things are merely necessary to maintain bodily functions and have no extra meaning. Chartering transport and buying property for security purposes is also logical. Homunculi know they aren't good at interacting with humans, so they simply create a closed-off environment.
The most direct evidence of this is that while all Einzbern residences are equipped with luxurious physical facilities, the internal utilities are far from matching, making the living experience anything but comfortable.
Take the Holy Grail War, for example.
The castle in the forest outside the city was severely damaged and couldn't be repaired in time. So, Acht had his people construct a half-finished villa on the outskirts.
Yes, a half-finished villa.
It was a product of Japan's economic crisis, a project that stalled due to a financial collapse. The location was remote, and the house had no running water or electricity. Apart from the European-style exterior, the interior was a complete mess, making it utterly uninhabitable.
But to Acht, none of this was a problem. A remote location was perfect—he had no intention of interacting with humans anyway. The lack of water and electricity was no issue either; after all, the Einzbern castles didn't have these utilities either, relying entirely on alchemy for self-sufficiency.
As for beds, the homunculi didn't care. They could sleep on the floor. Without modern conveniences getting in the way, setting up a workshop was easier.
At this moment, Acht, the head of the Einzbern family for over two hundred years, sat on an alchemically crafted chair, questioning two rows of homunculus maids.
"Have you found the whereabouts of those two traitors yet?"
"No," replied the first homunculus in the front row, her face expressionless.
"I went to the traitors' residence, but they are no longer living there."
"Did you ask the locals?"
"Yes, but they all said they don't know anything."
"Leysritt, Sella, you've interacted with them before. Any clues?"
Two homunculi from the back of the line stepped forward simultaneously.
"No."
"We've never spoken to the traitors."
These two were the same homunculi who had attacked the Emiya household but were subdued by Irisviel and Illyasviel, only to escape again during Heracles' rampage.
"Is there no trace of them at all?"
Acht's face darkened slightly. After living for so long, his expressions were far more varied than those of the younger homunculi.
"There might be one useful lead."
The homunculus who had spoken earlier, seemingly the head maid, hesitated before speaking.
"Tell me."
"When I went to the traitors' residence, I encountered a woman. She claimed to be familiar with the traitors and said she often stayed there."
"You think she might know where the traitors went?"
"She said she didn't know, but as she left, she muttered, 'Why didn't they tell me?'"
"So, the traitors might contact her."
Acht nodded thoughtfully.
"In that case, keep an eye on that woman. Report to me immediately if you discover anything. This time, we cannot let them escape."
"Understood!" the head maid replied.
"Go now—"
At that moment, a loud crash echoed through the solemn hall, followed by the entire room shaking violently as if an earthquake had struck.
But Acht knew it wasn't an earthquake, nor was the building itself trembling. It was the alchemic bounded field surrounding the structure—someone was using immense force to break through!
Acht's nerves tensed instantly. He clenched his wrist, and a flash of pain crossed his aged face.
At that moment, a giant over 250 centimeters tall appeared beside the throne, letting out a deafening roar.
"■■■■■■■■——!"
At the same time, Acht gave his orders.
"We're under attack! A Servant! First squad, come with me! Second squad, prepare to assist Berserker!"
The Einzbern family always prided themselves on their meticulous bounded field setups. Even though this was a temporary base, constructed rather recently, they had still erected three layers of bounded fields inside and out. The innermost layer protected the base itself, while the outermost layer covered an entire kilometer around it, embedded with isolation, detection, and alarm spells—some of the best bounded field of the modern age.
And yet, these layers of bounded fields had been shattered—two layers broken with a single strike, and the third was barely holding on.
No, wait—the third layer had also been breached. The enemy had already crossed the kilometer distance and entered through the front gate!
Thankfully, while the enemy moved quickly, the homunculi moved just as fast.
The moment they received the order, the perfectly aligned maids rushed toward the nearest wall, where weapons were mounted—a rack designed for homunculus combat units. Despite their heavy maid uniforms, these were combat or magical homunculi, each with considerable fighting capacity.
After grabbing their weapons, the two teams of maids split up. One team, led by the head maid and the giant, charged toward the front entrance where the enemy was. The other team formed a protective circle around Acht inside.
After witnessing how the Edelfelt twins easily killed their Master during the Third Holy Grail War, Acht no longer harbored any illusions about his combat strength. From the beginning, his strategy had been to let the Servants fight while he hid safely.
The combat maids, whose physical abilities rivaled those of Servants, reached the entrance in mere seconds.
There, a woman dressed in black with red and a man in blue stood side by side.
Upon hearing the giant's roar, both Shinji and Scathach smiled similarly, their expressions twisted with a hint of bloodlust.
"Well, here they come. Their response time isn't bad," Scathach remarked, her hands forming an invisible grip as two red magical spears materialized.
"By your standards, Shishou, this is pretty slow," Shinji said, tilting his head to glance at the battle maids leaping down from above.
"I went to the trouble of designing such an entrance, and there's not even an audience? Let's do this again—This is FBI! Men on the left, women on the right, and… those in between, in the middle!"
"Has anyone ever told you how stupid that sounds?"
Scathach asked with a faint smile.
"I know it sounds stupid."
Shinji casually slid his hands into his pockets and lazily took two steps to the left.
"But for dealing with the Einzbern family, this method is perfect—see? They're already doing what I said. Men on the left, women on the right."