Munetsuchi

[Apollymi]

Charles overall idea seemed to be to show up, without weapons or outward forms of aggression. To potentially hand over a peace-making gift, in this case, temporarily his Holy Grail to be used as a sign of trust and respect. And to use that entire situation to get his group ingratiated to the other. "I really have no idea how you came to this set of conclusions," Sakura started. "But the plan itself doesn't sound like a bad idea given human emotions are at play," she finished up seemingly amazed by the well-thought out plan basically brought from nothing into something that seemed somewhat reasonable. As for the extra bits associated with his question about why he could or could not hand over his grail, she gave it a bit of thought. The only technical problem she could see facing the lad would be the transference of the grail leading to a shift in a grail babies parents. But after seeing Angelica within the space, she was sure that the young goddess of Justice would be birthing Charles's Grail, Jeanne would be giving birth to her own, and Sakura would be birthing her own. Given this it would be rather simple to temporarily surrender custody of the item without handing it over in the more permanent sense. "Given the way I constructed my own grail, I would say that as long as you don't intend to permanently pass on your grail, it would be no problem to hand over the physical cup. All the potentially problematic magical issues aside from you giving it away in truth have already been settled," she finished her thought and gave a gentle nod.

Still she was observing the friend group's interactions and wondering how far back they went. She didn't fully understand all the terms, but at least the other two studious ones were still paying enough attention to keep track of what she'd said. This was made immediately obvious by Anais, "Well, if it's possible for you to not accidentally hand it over it would be fine. I know it's a very powerful artifact so you should be mindful of handing it over, but if Sakura-chan doesn't think it will be a problem then I think it will be fine. Also we could technically offer to help them before we do what we need to do, they are probably in a bit of a bind without their leader around," she added. At the mention of her name with a simple but familiar honorific Sakura smiled, perhaps she was making casual progress towards her desired new friends.

Just the same Astolfo seemed to be realizing that Anais was apart of the friendgroup of his younger sister, and had taken to poking the bottom of Yume. In her own kind of flirty manner she brushed back against it and laughed just a bit. "Come on now, the horse is nice but that poking isn't it~" she mused just a bit. "As for which one she is, this is Iino Miko, the Student Council President, former Iron willed little empress of the Disciplinary Committee, our Party Mom, you know the one we have a bet going on whether or not she has a secret boyfriend or she's like Daft Punk? Come on you have to know her~" she held her hand against her chest and turned so that she could motion about how tiny the girl was in their previous world. She was the friend stationed front and center in all their group photos so she didn't get lost. "Waah, wait wait wait, can we not talk about this right now?! Charlie's trying to give a speech!" Anais seemed to be rather aghast and her face was now redder than even it'd managed to be during the whole Mugen fiasco the previous day. And she was deflecting very hard, but this was all very normal activity for her. She really wasn't prepared for anything else today, their most invasive friend spilling her entire identity was well beyond normal.

[Bloodedge]

Still, Sakura wondered how Charlemagne reached the conclusion he did. In his own mind, it was the simplest way to make a decision. "Brainstorming. You were there," he said plainly. More importantly, there was the expressed curiosity regarding any issues with handing over the grail. Sakura didn't think passing it on would be a bad idea. She even offered insight as to what it would mean to hand it over. So long as he didn't give the grail away permanently, there should be no issues from the magical side of things. Anais agreed to these terms, also under the condition that he not totally pass along the grail. That was a reasonable stipulation that he could agree to from both parties. "Alright, so offering the grail without passing the torch. Got it," he agreed.

It was all up to Yume to keep Astolfo informed. He didn't know which of her friends Anais had been, but one could presume Astolfo was more interested in watching his finger sink into the flesh Yume's rear. She, too, had something to say about that. "Eh?! But this is an official Astolfo hello! You can't say it's not nice," he replied. Even if she complained, he wouldn't be stopped so easily... until his every movement halted the moment Anais's identity was confirmed. "Anais is the midget?!" he asked impulsively. Just then, Charlemagne inadvertently took Anais's side by clearing his throat. "Yeah, about that speech. The plan is to go as soon as possible. If either of you has things to handle, handle it. We might not be able to come back for awhile once we leave here," he announced. There was an assumption that Anais may have some catching-up to do. Astolfo never had much holding him back from the next adventure, though he currently seemed interested in grabbing hold of Yume's rear and squeezing. "I've got some ideas! In the spirit of learning, the great Astolfo will discover how clouds are kept under the skin!"

[Apollymi]

"Brainstorming?" she questioned that term, it didn't make sense to her. Well, the word seemed to be a compound but the actual activity was a completely foreign concept to Sakura. She would definitely be prodding someone's brain about this later to figure out the actual mechanics of this particular thing. Regardless of this point, Charles agreed to not passing along his grail in truth and that was all either of the girls who was thinking of the future wanted which made the plan rather solid.

Things that interrupted this planning session though directly were the musings of Astolfo who was doing his usual thing and rather playfully harassing Yume who didn't seem to care very much at all. After a description of Anais which left the girl embarrassed beyond all reason, Astolfo came to the conclusion that she was the 'midget'. Oh, that was a bad one, that was a very sensitive topic, which was why Yume hadn't said it herself, even though it would have made her easily identifiable. "None of us are particularly giant. I'm not that small!" Anais snapped and it became obvious just how sensitive of a subject that had once been. It also made reasonable sense of her more skittish nature, if she was actually quite small before, her quiet and withdrawn nature matched her once lacking physical stature.

Anais left that statement there and found herself switching subjects and avoiding any more traumatizing experiences for the day. Apparently, if they had any business to handle they should get to it, because after they left they may not be back for a while. Anais did need to catch up with her friend, but she also needed to figure out what kind of lessons were going on with her mentor. Given the current split of attention she chose to focus on her mentor, "Hai hai, Shishou, what should I do to prepare to be gone for a while?" she asked not knowing what kind of break she should be expecting. At the same time, Yume was laughing but would chide Astolfo for his less than diplomatic word choice. "Oi oi, Saika-nii, you can't go around hurting feelings and directly addresing things people have complexes about. You're going to have to be nicer to Mi-chan or you're never gonna get to find out how real clouds are kept~" she mentioned eventually warding the lad's hands to inch up behind the Elafia girl again. She'd called her by the name she preferred and that seemed to have made the elafia more casual for a moment though it was still an overly embarrasing thing. Kaguya needed rules so she'd avoid spilling too much personal information about Anais and a bunch of other things before she could comfortably leave out.

[Bloodedge]

Brainstorming. Of all the things Sakura could have been visibly confused by, it was brainstorming? How very strange. Charlemagne figured that would be the most easily understood thing he said to her so far. Alas, it was not to be. "Yes? When we were talking, I kept tossing ideas around in my head until something stuck. Why is that the thing you don't get?" he wondered.

In the meantime, Anais was being... perhaps accidentally tortured by the outburst of Astolfo. Naturally, he held no ill-will toward his comrade-in-arms, but... a midget she remained. Even the naysaying of Anais herself and the chastising of Yume would not change the facts. "What? If I can't say it, who can?" Astolfo wondered in the frankest way. If anyone could say such a thing, surely he was on the list of acceptable individuals. Whatever the case, he was left with empty hands and a pout on his lips. Oh well; at least he still had a horse to gaze upon in a satisfied manner. Well... so he thought. "You're not keeping the horse," said Charlemagne. Immediately, Astolfo was dropped to about 0% satisfaction. With the pink-haired male effectively silenced, they could move on.

Anais wondered what sort of preparation would be required of her. Upon being asked such a thing, Ailen appeared visibly confused. "Prepare? I don't understand. Do you have some belongings that you intend to leave behind? I can't imagine any reason for preparation," he muttered. If Anais wasn't leaving something in Munetsuchi, they could just go. Of course, he'd be accompanying the lass wherever she went so early in this apprenticeship. Perhaps she didn't realize that was the case?

[Apollymi]

Apparently, given the words spoken by Charles, brainstorming was the act of tossing ideas around which constituted what they'd done before coming to the throne room. He became visibly confused as to why that was something she didn't get. She thought about how to explain it, but came to the conclusion that there were only a limited number of ways she could explain. "Well, it isn't understood because it doesn't make sense. There was no logical progression between what we discussed and the plan you came up with. The things seem completely unconnected and as such it is confusing how this was the conclusion you came to," she explained. "That isn't to say I have a problem with the plan, it's sound... but nothing you said before leads to this in any way that is logical. It's baffling," she explained.

Meanwhile it seemed Astolfo didn't understand who got to call the girl a midget if he couldn't. He was a good-natured individual Anais knew this, she wasn't holding against him any of his antics... it was simply not a subject she wished to broach at all. At the same time, Yume could only casually shrug, "That secret boyfriend she had neither confirmed nor denied~" she teased just a bit. "Why would I have a secret boyfriend? Why would any of you even think that?" asked Anais who seemed to be a bit astounded by the logic. "Well, you always go missing at random intervals. You're super secretive about what you're doing and who you'll be with, and there is that shadow of a boy that follows you around like an enslaved puppy... secret boyfriend seemed about right. Though... there is still technically the 'Daft Punk' option. We're split 50/50 about the truth," mentioned Yume who had gotten a reasonable feel for Anais since being in her presence and was now prodding her for truthful answers to the questions of her life.

Ah, but she'd be waiting for those, as the question Anais posed her mentor got a confused response. She looked at him strangely for a moment but after the previous set of two-ish days she realized that he may be confused for a very specific reason. "Shishou, I have a magic bag, I don't need to leave anything anywhere most of the time," she stated for a second. "I'd only be leaving you here, which is why I asked..." she said seemingly confused. "Well, and her... " she said pointing to Yume. Well that was really strange. She wanted to go, was it weird she wanted to go? Maybe, but this group seemed like it'd be fun. Besides, Anais formerly known as Miko had been here for a while at least, she would be great for getting acclimated. All the while a gentle chuckle escaped Anais's internal voice as Astolfo pouted about not keeping his horse.

[Bloodedge]

Ah, so Sakura was confused because she couldn't find a logical progression from Charlemagne's thoughts to his answer. He supposed she shouldn't be expected to see the method, given how she seemed to process things thus far. Since they met, there had been one thing neither of them could find balance with, and it was a key difference between the workings of their minds. "It doesn't always have to be something logical, y'know? Sometimes it works just to draw on experience and rely on old tactics instead of coming up with something new every time. Or, in cases like this one... it might be worthwhile instead to cram a bunch of ideas together and see what makes the most solid plan," he explained. "The whole thing might not be logical, but I didn't just come up with one giant plan all at once. I just had to think of a way to lower the offense against us, a way to lower their guard so we can talk, and then a way to prove we're not their enemies. Knights are bound by a code of honor, so even an angry knight should think twice about attacking the unarmed. We go weaponless. They'll think we're responsible for Jeanne's disappearance, so we explain why we're not... and to do that, we hand over something important to us as collateral so they're more inclined to listen. Hand over the Holy Grail, then share our side of the story. Three steps."

While Charles was explaining his process to Sakura, the two other males were going through two different mental hoops. Astolfo was petting and cooing the horse he would soon lose forever, making a very dramatic showing of it. Ailen, on the other hand, was only becoming more confused by the moment. Anais said there was nothing she had to leave behind, apart from her mentor and friend. Ah, so there was something not considered. "Why would you presume that? I have no reason to stay here if my apprentice is headed out on an adventure. Unless there is a reason you need me to remain here, I fully intend to accompany you. Besides, a trip to the lands above may yield many alchemical ingredients yet to be discovered in our lineage. I wouldn't dare miss that opportunity either."

[Apollymi]

After properly expressing her confusion, Sakura was given a much more concise explanation of what was going on in his mind when he came up with his plan. He'd apparently not tried to come up with something completely new, and had instead broken down his thought processes into smaller pieces. He'd attacked each piece with its own logic and applied his former experiences and methods to ones where they applied to deal with his impending questions. "Interesting," she found herself murmuring. In truth she'd thought at least this lad didn't have any real logic to his thought processes. But after some brief consideration this made much more snese than she'd originally given credit to. Of course, she'd never have thought to undertake a problem by breaking it into pieces, it was still one big problem, but he'd managed to cover all bases this way so she couldn't say it wasn't a functional way to deal with the problem at hand. "Hm it seems almost counter productive to make a bunch of smaller problems out of a single problem but I can't argue with the results," she said seeming less confused but more excited than normal. His plan definitely covered all bases and took advantage of all parts that seemed to need addressing. It wasn't a single giant plan, instead it was a series of smaller plans which formed a big plan.

At the same time, Astolfo seemed to be having a serious problem with the idea of having to leave his pilfered horse. Which only served to make his dramatics more humorous to the girls observing, and Anais was confronted by some strange but rather on brand words from her mentor. She'd assumed that as a person who was married this man wouldn't run off on a random adventure with a group of teenagers. This had apparently been the wrong assumption. "You know... when you say it like that it seems like it wasn't even something you considered not doing. I mean I get that I am your apprentice but I didn't assume you'd want to go with me on this sort of adventure," she said. "Admittedly, I just didn't know I'd gained a chaperone, it didn't fit my normal thoughts," she finished easily. "I'm not displeased by it as an idea or anything... I am just surprised mostly," she mentioned. All the time Yume was watching with wide eyes. "Why would you leave me behind, I want to go..." she claimed. "You still haven't answered my questions yet either... " she said with a firm nod. Anais didn't sign up for this amount of heart and soul confusion. "Why?" she asked her friend who casually shrugged. "First thing on a to do list in a magical world is an adventure with friends. I've been here a day, you guys are talking about traveling. I already know two of you, and have reason to get to know at least two others... I want to go," she pleaded which only served to confuse Anais more. What was she actually supposed to do about both of these people? Well, in general they didn't often turn down other people, it could only help them to have people along. She did miss her friends quite a bit and would enjoy catching up with Kaguya even in her new form or especially in it. It wasn't exactly a leisure trip or anything though so could she actually bring her friend along?

[Bloodedge]

At long last, Sakura had the method by which Charlemagne reached his decision. How would she take that information? Well, she considered it a sound plan, though with the initial thought that breaking the problem down seemed a bit counterproductive. Ah, Charlemagne had an opinion to share about that. "I get how you could see it that way, I guess? But sometimes a problem is too big, or even intimidating in some cases. Breaking it down like that make it easier to deal with, lessens any anxiety of the situation, and makes it easier to cover everything. If I tried to deal with the whole thing at once, I could miss an important part and put someone else in danger," he explained further. The last thing he wanted was for someone else to receive trauma, injury or worse because he forgot to cover one of the bases in planning.

If Anais had no reason to keep him away, Ailen would undoubtedly be accompanying this group on their journey. Any interventions on his part would be solely for the sake of his apprentice, but that was something easily made clear beforehand. True enough, staying behind was not something he considered at all, though there were some specifics. "Of course I'll go. Though I must say, I have no stake in your group's current conundrum. I will accompany you for academic purposes alone," he stated firmly.

With that, it seemed they would have an additional person along for the ride... and then one more, according to Anais's friend. Charlemagne wasn't one for inviting those who may be endangered, and she claimed to be here for only a single day thus far. She did seem strong, but was she mentally ready? "You seem pretty high-level, but our big goal here is fighting a god. Are you sure that's the kind of first adventure you want?"

[Apollymi]

There was further explanation to come. It seemed that attacking problems in pieces kept the lad from making planning errors and allowed him to cover all his potentials. She supposed if one took their thoughts as small problems instead of one big problem it would allow a bit more flexibility in the way one addressed things. "Sou ka, I understand now. Arigatou gouzaimasu," she offered happily. But what did she understand? Well, his problem-solving method and the reason that his friends were fine with leaving him in charge, since he had a certain base amount of concern about everyone else, his plans didn't unnecessarily put others in the direct line of danger.

Beyond this point, it seemed that Ailen would be along for academic purposes alone. That was fine for Anais and probably also fine in general, though perhaps a few ground rules would still need to be applied. "Hm, well that seems fine. I do plan to still think about my studies at least a bit, I don't have a lot else to do during downtime except for scouting anyways... " she murmured.. As for her friend and accompanying that technically wasn't Anais's choice to make as it wasn't her goal being pursued though she understood what they were doing. Ah, but Yume was left to turn and look to Charles and upon hearing his actual goal and his question posed to her she said something very casually. "I am wearing an Ancient God as a dress... it is also my familiar I tamed it myself. I am pretty sure beating a god is a great first adventure, plus I can get to know new good people. I've been given tacit permission to seek things I desire and do them, so I'm fine with it~ So can I go?~" she said. "Ugh, prodigy people are always so weird, you rolled nat 20 didn't you?" asked Anais though she was still smiling and only shaking her head. She knew that whoever ended up attached to Mugen directly was bound to be ridiculous and given their personalities she probably should have realized it would be Kaguya to fit that bill so perfectly. "Twice. I've had a busy day since Mugen-sama summoned me. Thanks by the way~" she said to Anais who could only shake her head. "Iie, he said he wanted to use me as a catalyst, I wasn't sure who he'd end up with or anything like that. You were probably best suited to just decide to live the magical world life though, so I'm glad..." she confirmed.

[Bloodedge]

"Hai," Charlemagne said upon being thanked by Sakura. He didn't know exactly what she got from that explanation that could be worthy of gratitude, but whatever worked for her was fine for him as well. Currently though, there was another curiosity. The girl called Yume was interested in joining their adventure, but Charlemagne didn't want to let someone uninformed sign themselves up for a dangerous battle. In terms of strength, she would be capable of fending for herself as well as his comrades, but what of her ability?

Well, it seemed Yume's ability extended to summoning, taming and equipping ancient gods. If she'd done something like that, he definitely couldn't reject her request to join them. Actually, Charlemagne thought he should probably be asking for the help of someone like that. "That's a uh... pretty strong resume. I can't really say no, but... still be careful," he said, walking over to extend his right hand. "I'm Charles, by the way. Charles, Charlie, Chuck, whatever works for you! Welcome aboard!" was added at the end. With that, it seemed everyone but the horse in this room would be joining the journey. Charlemagne wasn't sure where they would spawn exactly once reaching the Holy Knights' Headquarters, but... he did hope their arrival wouldn't be right inside. A bit of time to prepare after appearing would be necessary. "So, are we all ready?"

[Apollymi]

Sakura had accepted her new knowledge and was happily thinking of ways to apply it in her mind. Perhaps Charles didn't see why she'd thanked him, but giving someone a new way to consider things was always worthy of thanks and maybe praise depending on what new could come of it. Speaking of new, the newest member of the day seemed to be Yume who had done quite a bit since showing up in this place, including taming an Ancient God. Sakura's eyes traveled over the girl's form, she supposed that was a completely separate existence from her base which was very much connected to Sakura's demonic father. How interesting.

Charlemagne seemed to be thinking things over and then rather easily consented to Yume joining but he still advised her to be careful. "Always. Nice to meet you, Charlie. You can call me Yume," she said giving the boy a fairly firm handshake as one from their world always would. Soon after a casual stretch would be taking place as she also waved to Sakura, who waved back. Yes, the whole group seemed to be together and with everyone in this room going on this particular trip it seemed all was ready to depart. Anais gave a quick check of her person. She had her magic bag, she was fully dressed, she had her mentor and her friend. "Hai, I'm all ready. Shishou... do you need anything?" she asked of the man. She'd not bothered questioning before this point if the man would just be ready to leave. It was also rather odd to her that Sakura seemed to be so ready to leave, but she'd noticed her parents were pretty free-range with her anyways.

[Bloodedge]

Following an exchange of greetings with Yume, Charlemagne took a step back to place himself at the group's center. If everyone was ready to depart, he could... oh. No, he couldn't do a thing! "Ah. Uncool," he muttered, knowing there was nary a crown belonging to the Eternal Sanctum on his person. All he had currently was the Holy Grail, and how lucky it was that he did. The Nexus had one more thing for him, spawning from the grail itself in the form of armor. What he sported after a flash of golden light was a silver-colored suit of orichalcum plate, including pauldrons linked to a flowing white and blue cape. At his nape was a single piece that looked like the cross of a crown, and that... was indeed his crown as the Holy Knights' king. With that, he could actually take them where they needed to be. "Oh. Never mind. Cool," Charlemagne commented.

During Charlemagne's final preparations, Ailen was asked if he had anything else to do. Of course, he didn't; his apprentice took priority over most things. "I have no prior engagements. I can easily depart now; everyone will know," he said. In that moment, Charlemagne focused his mana through the partial cross upon his neck, conjuring a bounded field around himself and the others. Astolfo had to move a bit closer, leaving the horse behind. "Alright, if that's everything... we're going now," said Charlemagne. Just then, Astolfo whistled to the horse, calling it to himself within the barrier. Charlemagne saw this, but they were already in the process of teleporting.

Continue the adventure here.