/etc/vconsole.conf must be installed always, even in generic initrds, not only host-only ones.
systemd-vconsole-setup is run at initrd stage and expects either /etc/vconsole.conf or kernel cmdline options to exist.
I have also proposed a change in systemd-vconsole-setup that makes it behave better if /etc/vconsole.conf does not exist:
https://github.com/systemd/systemd/pull/15479
But it is just a fallback. If /etc/vconsole.conf does not exist in initrd and if that patch is applied on systemd,
then the default consoel font is set despite the one being set in /etc/vconsole.conf and this setting is inherited
when new TTYs are opened. This leads to full ignorance of settings in /etc/vconsole.conf.
It is incorrect, and that is why this file must be copied to initrds always, but not only on host-only initrds.