The battle was over.
Shinji led a convoy, heading toward Mount Enzou in full force.
The term full force was no exaggeration. Acht had brought with him two teams of twelve battle maids to Fuyuki, and with Shinji, Kiritsugu, and Maiya, there were a total of fifteen people. This count didn't even include Justeaze and Scathach, who could dematerialize into spirit form, taking up no space.
Moreover, the maids had brought along various luggage and weapons. Especially the weapons—some of the lightest ones weighed as much as an average child, and the heaviest were even more absurd than the legendary powered armor.
This was no joke. The battle maids' weapons were made of rhenium, a metal superior and rarer than the tungsten steel used in main battle tanks' armor. Not only was it expensive, but its density was three times that of iron, higher than gold and lead. Converted into people, the weight of their gear alone equaled dozens of individuals.
Moving all these people and materials was not something a few cars could solve. Fortunately, the Einzbern family had prepared well in advance, arranging a variety of vehicles, including sedans for personnel and trucks for equipment.
After Acht's defeat, these vehicles were naturally requisitioned by Shinji, who packed everything up and took it all. The battle maids, equipped with driving skills from their program, were all qualified drivers, so there was no need to worry about them manning the vehicles.
The convoy's destination was Mount Enzou, where the Matou family's mountain villa was located, which was also the current residence of the Emiya family.
Since there was no way to eliminate the threat permanently, keeping them under close watch was the next best option to prevent any trouble. Although Shinji had subdued everyone with ease, that was thanks to the practical power of his Noble Phantasm, Kazikli Bey. For anyone else, subduing these combat-oriented maids would not have been so simple.
However, things were different with Grand Puppeteer, Aozaki Touko. In terms of pure combat power, Touko wasn't particularly strong, but when it came to understanding dolls, she was the undisputed world authority. With her around, the homunculi wouldn't even have a chance to cause trouble before being subdued.
In addition to keeping them under surveillance, Justeaze also planned to start an emotional training class at the villa.
The students, of course, would be the Einzbern homunculi.
The content of the class wouldn't be the usual psychological counseling but rather a genuine emotional education—teaching the homunculi what it means to have feelings. No, this wasn't some R-rated scenario (even if it were, Shinji would be the one to teach it, having fully embraced his wild side). In all seriousness, the goal was to help the homunculi develop genuine emotions, to give them a human heart.
The main instructors would be Justeaze and Irisviel. They had once been just like the battle maids, but now they lived more authentically and intensely than most humans. They knew better than anyone how to reach the hearts of the homunculi and awaken the suppressed emotions within them.
Assisting them would be Kiritsugu, Illyasviel, and Shinji. They were the catalysts for the homunculi's transformation into more human-like beings; it was their influence that sparked feelings within the homunculi. Just seeing how Justeaze blushed shyly when embraced by Shinji had already shocked many of the homunculi. Even Sella and Leysritt had considered grabbing their axes and spears to attack.
Of course, considering Shinji's overwhelming strength, the two ultimately didn't follow through. However, in their hearts, Shinji had already become a Demon King who had used violence to seize and threaten their Lady Justeaze.
What? How do we know this?
Because homunculi don't know how to hide their thoughts. They say exactly what's on their minds—whether it should be said or not:
"You demon, let go of Lady Justeaze!"
"Lady Justeaze, we will rescue you!"
"Lady Justeaze is our hero!"
"Lady Justeaze, don't worry about us..."
These blunt declarations were even more than Justeaze could bear to hear.
I didn't know I was so great.
On the other hand, Shinji remained calm, smiling the whole time. In his mind, Sella and Leysritt, these two good sisters, had already been mentally categorized as the female versions of Svin and Flat. Watching their interactions was like watching a comedy routine, endlessly entertaining, even if he was the one they were heckling.
Sometimes, when he was in the mood, he would even tease them a bit more:
"Beauty belongs only to the strong."
"Even if you lived another two hundred years like Acht, you couldn't defeat me."
"I, Matou Shinji, am not someone you can mess with."
"If you think you're strong enough to challenge me, I'm more than happy to oblige."
"I'm local here. I can make sure you won't be able to stay. But you? You won't be able to do anything."
"Shinji loves putting those who think they're strong in their place."
"Haha, just remember my name—wait, cough, cough—Matou Shinji!"
With these famous quotes, their hatred for him soared to the heavens. Even Justeaze couldn't handle it anymore and used her secret technique, Tiny Fists Punching Your Chest—in some sense, this could be considered a good thing.
Sometimes Shinji found it strange. Irisviel, most of the time, was quite bold in her actions and words. But Justeaze, her ancestor and model, was quite conservative. Even though they had been in a relationship for five years, Justeaze was still shy and would blush just like she did at the beginning, like a young girl just learning about love. Perhaps her 900 years of isolation had left a deep impact on her.
But it wasn't a bad thing. After all, many people cherished that feeling of "if only life were always like the first time we met."
Shinji didn't need to chase after that feeling—his Justeaze would always be like their first meeting.
Wait, didn't we forget someone?
The newly created battle maids were inexperienced and naive, and Acht, that old geezer, was just standing there watching Shinji show off with Justeaze, showering everyone with their lovey-dovey antics.
To this, Shinji would say: That old man is already a broken shell. Even if he's smothered by all this lovey-dovey fluff, he won't have much of a reaction.
The reason he ended up like this was because Shinji had hit him with the big guns.
At the time, Shinji was already furious after hearing Justeaze's critique of the family's wishes. His words weren't polite at all.
This had displeased Shinji greatly, so he directly started cursing.
"Old man, why don't you take care of yourself first before talking? You're a fool, and you question Justeaze?"
Shinji then proceeded to recount in detail all of Acht's decisions and actions since the First Holy Grail War, ridiculing and criticizing him thoroughly, and even slammed the table at the end.
"If you hadn't messed up and let Avenger corrupt the Grail, Kiritsugu wouldn't have needed to blow it up, and Justeaze and I wouldn't have to risk our lives purifying it—you have no idea how close we came to dying because of that! If Justeaze wasn't protecting you, I would've turned you into a pincushion before Kiritsugu even had a chance to act!"
And with that, the S.S. Acht sank, never to rise again.