Germany.
In the Einzbern Forest's Castle of Winter, Zuke brought Sella and Leysritt back here.
The remnants of corpses were still scattered throughout the Castle of Winter, but because the Einzbern Forest had long been covered by ice and snow, there wasn't much odor here.
"But it's still better to clean up, since this place might become my territory."
Walking into the main hall, Zuke looked at the carnage inside and shook his head helplessly—although he had no particular feelings about these Einzbern family members, just leaving it like this wasn't appropriate.
Especially since after today, this Castle of Winter would probably become his property. He naturally didn't want his property stuffed full of other people's corpses, not even complete corpses.
"Then let me handle the cleanup."
Leysritt, who had been following behind Zuke, bowed slightly—she, who had barely spoken before, finally volunteered to take on this work.
She hadn't talked much with Zuke before, partly because she wasn't naturally talkative, and partly because Zuke had still been an enemy at that time.
But now that Sitonai had already acknowledged Zuke and even called Zuke "Papa," strictly speaking, Zuke could already be considered Leysritt's master.
Working for her master was naturally no problem—Leysritt wasn't good at housework, but simply disposing of corpses was still manageable.
There were actually some wild animals in the Einzbern Forest; these corpses could probably provide considerable nutrition for those animals.
"Then I'll go repair the Einzbern family's barrier."
Sella on the side nodded and went to another room.
Zuke had brought Sella here because Sella knew how to repair the Einzbern family's barrier, turning the Castle of Winter back into an isolated territory cut off from the world.
That's right, Zuke wanted to try to see if he could incorporate the Einzbern's Castle of Winter into his "King's Army."
Although Zuke had his sights set on the Mage's Association and was planning to incorporate the Mage's Association's Clock Tower into his "King's Army" when he had time, there was no rule saying one world could only have one stronghold, right?
He wanted both the Mage's Association and the Castle of Winter—only this way could it be called complete.
The current Einzbern family was already extinct. Logically speaking, only Sitonai, Sella, and Leysritt could be considered members of the Einzbern family.
Sitonai had undoubtedly already acknowledged Zuke, and Leysritt seemed to have already positioned herself as Zuke's maid. Only Sella still seemed to be acting stubborn.
As long as he gained the acknowledgment of all three, the "King's Army" would definitely be able to incorporate the Castle of Winter—this way he could establish a channel into this world in advance.
That way, even if by the end of the Holy Grail War he still hadn't found an opportunity to visit the Mage's Association, he wouldn't lose this world.
More than half an hour later, Zuke sensed movement outside the castle.
Obviously, Sella had already repaired the Einzbern barrier, and the Castle of Winter's exterior once again had a barrier that prevented people from entering the castle's territory.
It had to be said that after the barrier was destroyed, the corpses in the Castle of Winter hadn't been discovered for several months, which was already quite fortunate.
Now the corpses in the Castle of Winter had also been completely disposed of by Leysritt and thrown into the forest. Although there were still some dried bloodstains on the ground, at least the visual impact wasn't so severe.
Sella could clean this place up properly later.
Speaking of the devil, just as he thought of this, Zuke saw Sella walking out from a room nearby.
Seeing that Zuke seemed to be staring at her, Sella's face reddened slightly, and she looked at Zuke somewhat irritably:
"What? I'm only helping you for Illya's sake. I haven't acknowledged you as our master."
Although she said this, Sella worked faster than anyone else, making Zuke somewhat suspicious whether Sella had actually acknowledged him as master or not.
But verification was also simple.
Zuke looked up and began trying to incorporate the Castle of Winter into his "King's Army"—the scope included the Castle of Winter as well as the surrounding Einzbern Forest.
Although there were still some wild animals in the forest, those animals obviously wouldn't be considered members of the Einzbern family, but merely products of this territory.
This avoided Zuke having to negotiate with those wild animals or slaughter all the wild animals—although it might be a bit late to say this, Zuke still considered himself quite fond of animals.
The next moment, Zuke felt as if the Castle of Winter had entered another dimension......Without a doubt, the "King's Army" had successfully devoured the Castle of Winter.
Feeling this, Zuke turned his head again to look at Sella, who was picking up cleaning tools and starting to clean the bloodstains.
This maid might be sharp-tongued, but actually her heart had already acknowledged Zuke as master—so she actually had tsundere characteristics?
Having incorporated the Castle of Winter into his "King's Army," Zuke's purpose for this trip was accomplished.
Although this Castle of Winter would probably never be used in the future, it would simply serve as a transit station in the "Fate/Stay Night" world.
After Sella cleaned up some of the more obvious bloodstains, Zuke brought the two maids back to Fuyuki City using instant transmission.
"You're back!"
Sitonai, sitting on the living room sofa, saw Zuke appear before her with Sella and Leysritt, and her eyes immediately lit up as she stood up to greet them.
Beside her were some packed luggage—those were clothes that Sella had helped organize, belongings of Sitonai...or rather, the former Illya.
At first glance, it looked like someone preparing for a long journey.
"Are all the preparations ready? Just bringing this much?"
Zuke looked at the suitcase beside Sitonai and said with a smile.
"There might not be many chances to come back in the future, you know?"
Of course, this was just casual talk. If Zuke wanted to, he could naturally bring Sitonai back to this world anytime—the Castle of Winter had already become part of the King's Army.
But Sitonai shook her head and said very seriously:
"I won't be coming back in the future either."
Although Zuke had told Sitonai that in the other world, she might only be able to move within the scope of one house for a short time and couldn't go too far away.
But for Sitonai, having Irisviel there meant that even if the activity range was a bit smaller, it didn't matter—wasn't it almost the same as the previous life in the Castle of Winter?
Moreover, Zuke had also said it was only "for a short time," meaning there would still be possibilities to go to more distant places in the future.
As for this world........for Sitonai, there was nothing left to be nostalgic about.
After all, Sella and Leysritt would also be going over, and all traces related to the Einzbern family in this world would truly disappear completely.
To be continued…