Holy Templar Sanctum (Aincrad)

"Oh? So willing to step aside if a rising star better suits the situation? You aren't making yourself sound less qualified Charlie~" she explained the situation to him as best she could. Her leader seemed to be unaware of the qualities which made him a reasonable leader, but anyone who'd worked for someone or done a group project before in school already knew, which was why his group operated around him the way it did. He called his ability to strengthen bonds between Angelica and Ivy friendship not leadership. "Those things aren't mutually exclusive Charlie, the quality applies to both~" she claimed which would only go to the type of person she was and how she saw the world in general. Perhaps what Charlie actually needed was a confidence boost, the gorgeous princess at his side was sure to do wonders for him if he ever fully acknowledged that situation the way he should. As far as Ivy could see right now, they were well on their way to being a proper couple.

Ah, she was supposed to give this a rest because things didn't always play out as normal. That there was magical stuff involved from time to time and not all stories were the same as they were before. "That's true enough, but usually when magic is involved something is weird, and usually a lot worse than it is being given credit for," she said calmly as ever. Several heroic tales had played out strangely. She knew for instance that this world's 'King Arthur' was 'Queen Artoria' she'd heard several mythological beings were real and had lives that played out according to their legends. But she'd also heard things like the world was once one place and it broke apart forming all the different nations and continents currently on the ground. Life was strange in this world that was certain. At the same time Angelica heard everything said but some of it made sense and others of it didn't. Still, she'd listen and try to piece it all together.

At the same time, Charles claimed to want to know her terms, before deciding it didn't matter because he wasn't the boss of her. He also claimed Ivy probably shouldn't have admitted being interested in things like that. "Idiosyncrasies in knowledge are always worth exploring. I have to retain some form of objectivity or I can't be a good recordkeeper. That being said I realize that she was actually a person you knew," she explained of herself. Of course, she had other parts of his speech to address. "You are definitely the boss of me, whether you are willing to admit that or not. But if you don't care how I do it... then I'll be back in a few minutes~" she said giving a salute and bow before a strange portal opened up behind her, after a light glow around her person. She subsequently turn around and walk out seeming to be quite excited. "That was a strange conversation. I like her though... but I am really confused," claimed Angelica. Several sentences spoken seemed to make little sense to her. What was lore? What kind of strange knowledge did other people have, were they clairvoyant?

"Well I... you..." Charlemagne was suddenly stammering, working his way through some sort of response to Ivy's claims. How could he continued to drive his point home? There had to be some way, right? "Shut up!" was all he offered in the end. Yes, that was the perfect comeback. Rather... it was all he could come up with.

In Ivy's experience, including magic in what they once knew as history made things weird and... worse. Charlemagne had a different experience, though he did know what she meant. Several thoughts passed through his mind in the form of memories, both from stories and from his own life. "That's just the stuff people hear about most. Besides, it was all during the Age of Gods. Everything was worse then," he said solemnly. Charlemagne himself had lived during those times. He knew many historical and mythological stories that sounded like child renditions of events happening before his very eyes. Those however, were a long time ago. Similar differences in the past thousand years or so had not been leaning in the same direction with such frequency.

Whatever the case, Ivy had her habits when addressing lore and the like, and she was allowed them. Whatever she wanted to think about the situation was fine with him. If it hurt no one, he had nothing negative to say. Of course, he did have an opposing opinion about being the boss of anyone... but that was an aside. Ivy was off to accomplish the task regardless. Once she was gone via her personal teleportation method, Angelica made known her confusion as well as her thoughts about Ivy. "I think she likes you too, but what's confusing you?"

Charles stammered through a reaction, ultimately ending to tell the woman known as Ivy to shut up. She would of course, but not without grinning like a woman who'd just won the lottery. All of her initial's life training as a lawyer said that when someone got that kind of flustered they were incapable of properly arguing a point. It was a fair tactic to use to force people into admitting things, and the words themselves leaned directly into what she meant. "Whatever you say, Charlie~" she teased just a little. As for his take on the Age of the Gods and its associated problems, she could only agree. "I wasn't around during that time, but tales of spoiled divinities creating chaos for mortals unchecked does indeed sound like a way worse time than right now," she mused. She couldn't argue. Many legends said crazy things about gods, destroying places because they were upset, changing the forms of people they'd wronged, introducing death as a punishment for hubris... ah, but all of that couldn't be true either. There was always extra information between the lines. And that was what Ivy searched for. As she descended through her own method of teleportation she'd find herself without trace of movement on floor 79, within the deeper reaches of the archives. She was moving through those alphabetized records until she found those pertaining to Jeanne d'Arc. In these walls covered in books and files she would soon be perusing a rather sordid and highly classified tale.

At the same time, Charles was stating that he thought Ivy liked Angelica too and wondered more directly over her confusion. "Ah, that's a relief. I am trying my hand at still being myself but having better introductions!" she asserted. Regardless she managed to look a bit abashed as she explained her point of confusion. "I didn't know why the word lore was used in that context. And it also sounds like Ivy and maybe you too, know things no one else does... so like are you guys like clairvoyant or something?" she asked about two things at once. Ah, well, that was out there and they did need something else to do. She could trust Charles to explain things to her in a way she'd understand them, they had that sort of relationship after all.

With only Angelica and himself in the library, Charlemagne heard questions he didn't expect to be presented with at this point in a 1,000+ year-long life. He supposed however, that if he was going to actually marry the Holy Princess, she deserved to know the truth eventually. He'd be better off telling her that sort of thing beforehand. As such, Charlemagne pulled two chairs away from a nearby table, placing them beside each other, angled slightly inward. He sat in one, and patted the other briefly. "Ah... right," he said, seeming to almost dread the fact that this topic had come up. Life in that other world was so very long ago, yet still so precious a memory. Things were simpler then. Yes, people like him were living a dream in a magical world... but there was so much more to it than that.

"We're not clairvoyant. Well..." Charlemagne paused. Toward the end of his date with Angelica, he wondered if he was developing some form of Clairvoyance. Alas, that had nothing to do with the current topic. "I should say no form of magical foreknowledge is going into the stuff we say. I guess, if you're sure about the whole marriage thing, there's something I should tell you."

Charlemagne had never intended to keep his previous life a secret. On the other hand, he hadn't a clue how to even broach the topic. Now was as good a time as any, he thought. "So, Angie. Imagine... life in this world suddenly ended for you. Ugh, wait. That sounds morbid, doesn't it? I mean... imagine you wake up tomorrow, and nothing's the same. Close your eyes. You've been born all over again, all your memories intact, but you're a completely new person. You're born to new parents in a world with no magic. Because magic and magecraft never existed, people who wanted to start fires used methods like what I showed you earlier... but eventually, humans found better ways to do everything. Instead of doing so much, someone creates a little thing that fits in your pocket, which could make a little fire you could use to ignite something else. The world has no rideable flying creatures, so a couple of guys threw together a bunch of wood and fibers with wings, all to be more like birds. Even that evolves beyond those two guys, with future people making even bigger versions of it out of metal that could carry hundreds of people at a time. Instead of mana, devices of all sorts use the energy of burning coals, then fuels, then motion, then lightning that someone learned how to harness without any magic at all!" Once more, Charlemagne had started a tangent. This one, however, was no rant. He was recalling human innovation from his original, nonmagical world, and he was doing so with the twinkle of fondness in his eye. "Just think. Can you imagine that? Can you see yourself falling asleep right now, and waking up to something extraordinary like that?"

In the Archives, Ivy had started reading and taking notes. The things she found most interesting about this deep dive into Jeanne d'Arc's story wasn't the things recorded but the things that were removed from the records. For instance, the records weren't entirely clear on the sort of heresy she was being accused of, it claimed her soul was tainted in some way, but it was missing the how. Jeanne's own testimony about events had been stricken. Names and dates and explanations of her whereabouts leading up to her return to Aincrad and talks with Father An were erased. There were claims that she colluded with devils, but no proof of her actually doing so. There were claims she was interacting with 'demons' reinforced by things she said at her execution, but the words she said during her execution were redacted. As she read multiple accounts from multiple view points, the same kinds of information were missing. The assignment she was on for Aincrad, why she was found to be a heretic, what she said while she was being executed, why they claimed she was unrepentant. "Propaganda. This much redaction is usually done to preserve the image of someone. But in the context of this story, what is missing is the most important details," she murmured to herself. It wasn't just across the official documentation either. Even witness accounts taking at later times which claimed she called out to demons removed the name she spoke and even certain words she said.

Ah, but while Ivy did a deep dive into the history of Jeanne d'Arc's trial and execution Angelica was given a long sit down talk. Apparently Charles had something to tell her and instead of coming straight out with it, he went on a bit of a tangent. She closed her eyes and listened to his words and all of it sounded quite jarring if she was being honest. She knew that the humans existed for the most part without magic, but even they had some exposure to it. The idea of completely non-magical world and all the advancements that came along with it, were quite wonderous but also frightening. "I can't really imagine anything like that... I get that magic isn't necessary but that whole thing sounds like it would be completely foreign to someone like me. Like I already have a thousand more questions about things just based off of what you've said so far," she explained of herself. Still she wouldn't stop him. "But you can keep going I do want to understand," she offered. This was the sort of kind a girl like Angelica was, even when she didn't understand she wanted to in some way.

Unsurprisingly, Angelica had some difficulty imagining the scenario Charlemagne gave. Even with the media and imaginary magic in his original world, actually conceptualizing something like this world was nearly impossible. That is, until it became life. "Don't worry. There are a lot of nuances to those developments. I don't expect you to get a complete visual, but just imagine how surreal it would all be to you," he added. Nevertheless, there was purpose in his musing. "Now, think about all the things you know in your current life ─ all the things you would still remember when you're reborn into this new world. You start growing up, and you realize... you've been reborn with a name you once heard in a fairy tale or read in a storybook. You're born as..."

He took a moment to think. There were so many stories that could be told, but nothing he figured Angelica would know for certain. As such, he had to make something up. "Let's veer off into the imaginary for a sec. In this world, Angelica Edelfelt exists only as a story. She was the Holy Princess who built the most extravagant palaces all within a floating empire in the sky. She eventually became the Holy Empress and broke a magical seal that kept her bound to the empire itself, and all her abilities became the cause of awe and inspiration for many generations to come. This is the story you heard before being reborn into a world of technology. As you grow up in that world, you learn that you are Angelica Edelfelt from the stories. The problem is, the world doesn't work on magic. You know who you are, and you know those stories are supposed to be your life. You come of age, and you still build those palaces. You cut the stones, you build the framework with your own hands, and you become a legend for doing all that without magic. Or... maybe you find out the stories you knew were wrong, and you were just the person making blueprints for someone else to build. Maybe you just get all the credit. Maybe breaking a seal and escaping a floating empire is actually the story of how you were some shut-in princess in a tower, who finally wandered outside to tell her story after becoming an adult. Maybe it happens exactly like it did in the stories, but instead of doing things with magic, you were the first to build a machine that could accomplish those things for you. You know what to expect, but the reality of it couldn't possibly be the same. It might not even happen at all, really. Maybe you even realize Angelica Edelfelt is, in reality, a man named Angeal. That last part isn't really important, but it could happen."

Ivy continued reading through various tomes taking note of things said, unsaid and redacted and came to some rather annoying conclusions. The missing information was too great for anything considered airtight in either direction. But the problem with that was, how little there was left to draw conclusions from. It was almost like everything missing was missing so that only a specific conclusion could be drawn. Everything missing from all forms of information all seemed geared towards the story that was told. Jeanne d'Arc as a heretic and was executed justly. But if that was the case, why was there no records of her saying heretical words? Why wasn't it listed what actually happened to lead anyone to believe she'd been engaged in evil? Why were her last words redacted? Why were the words she spoke during her execution removed completely from the records? Why wasn't there an account of the things collected from her body, though it was mentioned at least once that something was left by her corpse and it wasn't simply her mystic codes? 'Hm, it is starting to seem like you may have experienced one of the worst endings this world had to offer... and none of us even get to know why...' she mused to herself. She finished making all of her copies and drawing up her notes to point out the problems so that even someone like Charles and Angelica could understand the problems with what she found. What they would do with that information she didn't know, but she'd make sure they got it.

And now there was quite a bit of information going into the mind of Angelica. She wasn't supposed to imagine it completely there were a lot of smaller things that went into this otherworld shift. But she could take this thought exercise of Charles' at face value. She was to imagine knowing all she did about this world and being born into the other one. She was to think about what it would be like to know the story of her life, while living it. That sounded a different sort of crazy. How many of your actions were your own in that case? Did you do the things you were destined to do? Or did you do something completely different and try to avoid it? "There are so many problems with all of that... not the least of which being, I'd be extremely upset if I randomly became a man!" she said firmly. Ah well everyone had a sticking point or two. "But I think I understand. It sounds like it'd be pretty rough though, how much of what you do would be your own choice then? Do you aim to go for what should be your storybook happy ending? How do you avoid just locking yourself up somewhere because you know potentially how you're supposed to die, or something like that?" there were so many potential issues and this kind of life sounded very frightening over all. Still she wasn't sure why this was where the conversation had gone to. "But beyond all of that, I can imagine being reborn and confused but Charlie why are you telling me all of this, and is this still connected to my original question?" she asked. If it was, she could only see his answer being one thing and that was kind of scary in a different way as well.

Angelica immediately took issue with the idea of being reborn as a man. He wasn't sure how to explain a video game in a world that didn't have such technology, but it was due to such a thing that he knew many, many people in this world were born as something they preferred looking at on a screen. Regardless of the issue she first mentioned, Angelica thought the technical foreknowledge would make things rather complex. How much of one's life was their own choice? How should one approach having that information? Knowing multiple individuals who reincarnated into known historical figures, that was something he once spent a long time thinking about. "That's easy, isn't it? I think the best way to deal with it, is to not deal with it at all. Approach life the way people always should: however you want. If something's going to happen, knowing about it beforehand shouldn't affect things in day-to-day life."

Now that his belief on the matter had been shared, there was one more question for Charlemagne to deal with. In short, he could say yes, the scenario mentioned was directly related to Angelica's original question. It was never that simple though, was it? "Well, see... that whole technological, nonmagical world I just made up? I didn't make it up. That's where I was born the first time. I woke up one day, fully conscious as a newborn baby named Charles. That's it. Just Charles. I grow up, live the life of an adventurer then clear a Labyrinth and find out my name has been upgraded to Charlemagne. Charles the Great. King of the Franks and Holy Roman Emperor... leader of the 12 Peers. That's a story from more than a thousand years before I was born. He led one of the greatest empires in history, died of a fever, and was only given sainthood afterwards. But... that's not me. My name is something I can't even say. Charlemagne. That's what comes out every time, like this world is forcing me to conform to what it wants me to be." Things had gone a bit dark, almost brooding, but Charlemagne cracked a smile at the very end. He always had a habit of applying such carefree reactions to serious topics about himself, but this wasn't meant to be about him anyway. "Can't be bogged down by stuff like that though, right? That's how it is~"

According to Charles the main issue that Angelica took with the other world life 'foreknowledge' was something best left ignored for one's own wellness. He claimed living as you wanted to was the most important part. She looked at him with a raised brow after a statement like that, "It's admirable but also terrifying. I also don't think it would be that easy to just do so, I don't envy anyone that," she said giving it a bit of consideration. She couldn't say what she'd do with any amount of foreknowledge. It all sounded completely foreign to her.

Moving on from that, hearing out the darkness of Charles about his life so far. He claimed to be from that non-magical human engineered world. He also claimed that he knew of what his own life was apparently going to be to some extent. Though several words and phrases didn't make sense. Whatever his name had been while he was in that non-magical world, he wasn't even allowed to say it. That seemed a bit sad in truth. He was over 1000 years old here, but it still seemed a bit unfair that he couldn't even use his original name. "That sounds like a scary amount of information to have about your future. And it also sounds like all of you guys who are from that other place should probably be in a support group to help each other," she said giving a firm pat to the lad's head. He managed to smile and claim to not be bugged by it, but it still seemed like the sort of things that needed friendship to overcome. Given what he said about this other world and the context clues from earlier conversations, it seemed like even though they might not have been present many might have already had knowledge of the kind of life and end Jeanne d'Arc would have faced. Moreover she wondered if Jeanne was aware of any of this information herself. The blonde lass she'd known for her early life never seemed very bogged down by anything at all. "Huh, that other world life thing probably explains why Jeanne said her older sister was Artoria Pendragon... I guess I never really questioned something like that as a thing," she said frowning while she thought about it. How many other people lived lives separate from family and friends that could identify them and use their original names or whatever other random thing. Being able to commiserate about shared experiences seemed like something that would benefit all who came here with memories of another world.

"It's not as bad as it sounds. Not for most of us, anyway," Charlemagne assured. "See, without magic in that world, humans had crazy imagination. People would pretend there was magic and all sorts of crazy things like that. A lot of us even dreamed of being in this kind of situation. Isekai, or different world is something my generation always thought about. What if we could be watching television or playing a game, and suddenly we're in that world?"

Charlemagne paused once more. He'd come to realize there was a way to explain video games and the like to Angelica. For the sake of context, he had little choice. "Oh! You know about Servants, right? Imagine Projection Magic being used with a device that could broadcast the visual all over the world. Imagine that being used to make a play, just for people to watch. That's television, or TV for short. Now, imagine that being interactive, so anyone out there could take control of a Servant and do anything they want within the projection. The projection could be as small as a single room, or as big as an entire world or... universe, really. That's a video game. The most popular game of my era was called Age of Eternity. It was so incredible, so massive, and had so much freedom. People like Jeanne played it, and a lot of them became the characters they created. It's the general consensus that being really into the game is what made a lot of people end up here ─ some random magical effect bleeding through the world or whatever. It gets weird with people like me. I didn't have the device to play, so I got into the card game instead. For that... imagine Servant Cards that don't physically summon spirits; they just have numbers and imaginary effects and abilities applied, and you do math to figure out who wins. It's more fun than it probably sounds."

Ah, he was rambling again. Never had Charlemagne been in a position to explain this double life phenomenon to someone else, though. Beyond all that, there was always more to it. His inability to speak his own name was something that stopped being bothersome centuries ago. One remaining oddity, however, was that the world didn't hold others to the same standard. Regarding the sibling relationship between Jeanne d'Arc and Artoria Pendragon, he and many others had much knowledge of the situation. "Hoshimi Emi. She and her sister, Hoshimi Eri, were pretty famous for broadcasting themselves playing Age of Eternity. They were the top-ranked cooperative players across the world! No surprise, they're two of the strongest people I've ever seen now that we're all here. As for the support group... I guess it technically exists? Most big figures in Chaldea are from the world I was first born in."

According to Charles, living in the world without magic wasn't very bad for everyone. Humans were full of imagination. Angelica could understand that type of jump, she was a girl bored most of her life, she spent a great deal of time imagining random things and waiting for the next little leak of information or the next big adventure. "I understand imagining a different world. Not even a completely different one but just one where what you are presently isn't what you always have to be," she said honestly. That little bit of information made the most sense to her after all.

Charles also went to explain how video games worked, and this was strange but also made sense given his points of reference. "That sounds like it could be fun. Something like that would have at least kept me entertained over the last thousand years," she said feeling like maybe this was the highlight of mankind. She'd already noticed how very ingenuitive mankind could be given their wood built houses and the like. Beyond this according to Charles, he was an oddity as a person who ended up in this world. He hadn't immersed in this videogame activity, he was a person who played a card game. Though it sounded kind of boring he claimed it was not, which only made Angelica chuckle. "Well it is good that you realized that sounded boring. But I suppose if paired with a bit of imagination such a thing wouldn't be too bad. Children would enjoy it at least," she said giving consideration to it which she thought was fair.

Ah, and then more important things yet appeared. The talk of Hoshimi Emi and Hoshimi Eri who were Jeanne d'Arc and Artoria Pendragon. Both of them played this game that Charles spoke of, broadcasting themselves as a team. She wondered if it was hard for them being transported to this world without each other at the same time? Age of Eternity was also an interesting concept. There was an Age of Fae, an Age of Gods, and now an Age of Man, what sort of thing could call itself eternal in the face of such fleeting ideals? Moreover Chaldea apparently housed a great number of people who ended up in this world through these accidental means and that was interesting to find out. "I see, that sounds really weird, but at least you know where to find other people. But... why do they as sisters have the same name and different second names?" she wondered, this custom of inverted naming wasn't one she'd heard before.

"Yeah, you get it. Actually, with your personality and circumstances, you'd have fit right in. You'd be such a geek," he said in an oddly affectionate manner, going so far as to laugh at the notion. Regardless, it seemed Angelica did not think too negatively about the world without magic. She even thought it sounded like fun, much to his expectation as one who knew how she entertained herself. Video games would have undoubtedly made the last thousand years incredible for someone like her. "If I could invent games here, I'd find you something to play. We could even have a match," he claimed.

Sadly, Charlemagne couldn't invent video games; he'd never been that savvy. One thing he could easily accomplish though, was the creation of a card game! Explaining something like trading card games to someone with no concept of them could do it no justice, but he could easily fabricate a couple of 30-card decks. "It's enjoyable for more than just kids. I've been playing card games since I was one, and I still played until I was transported here. I was... I think 17 at the time. Humans only got an average of 80 years or so on that planet. You know, I could find a way to fabricate some cards if you'd like to play a match. I remember a lot of Jeanne's Skills, so I could make a strong deck around her if you'd like. It might not hold up to the Astraea deck I played, but I could always try out a different deck instead. Hmm..."

Charlemagne seemed to be giving legitimate consideration to creating trading cards just for Angelica to learn about his world's games. Ah, but there was more to discuss. He'd given the names of Jeanne and Artoria from the other world, but he'd failed to realize Angelica had no reason to understand the cultural difference in naming methods. "Ah, my bad. Hoshimi is their family name. In the region I'm from, we address people by their family name. Family comes before the individual and determines status. It's what people are most likely to recognize you as. Actually, it's rude to address someone by their given name unless you're very, very close to them. There are also honorifics. For example, Jeanne is a bit older than me. If I spoke to her, I'd call her Hoshimi-san. She'd likely put -kun on my name the same way. As the Holy Princess, you would be called Edelfelt-dono by pretty much everyone."

According to Charles, given both Angelica's circumstances and her disposition she would have fit into the modern world he came from. That was nice to know, and at least she had some base of information to work with concerning those from the other world overall. It also explained several differences in personality with the people she'd come across. "Hm? I don't know... I still have my normal interests," she claimed seeming to understand at least a little the slightly negative connotation surrounding the word geek. Ah, but there was more, Charles claimed if he'd invented games here they could play.

It was explained some extra things. Apparently, he'd played card games his entire life in the other world. He even claimed that he'd been seventeen around the time that he'd been transported. That made him sound quite young in Angelica's eyes, but then he explained that the average lifespan on the other planet was a meager eighty years. "80! How did anyone get anything done? That's the age of relative infancy..." she exclaimed seeming to take issue with that number alone. She'd calm down only a moment later having fully processed the rest of the information. "Wait, Astraea is my mother's name..." she said seeming to find it to be an odd coincidence that he'd mention playing a deck which consisted of cards themed around her mother without her ever having said the name aloud.

Beyond those points there were even more social things to discover. Among their limited lifespans, humans had developed some rather complex social norms. This included only referring to each other by their family names in the area that Charles had come from, unless they were really close. And adding honorific suffixes to names when speaking to people. "That sounds like a lot to remember. And I don't think I'd like that sort of reference for myself," she said. That much was obvious given her earlier conversation with Ivy.

"Yeah? So do the rest of us," Charlemagne said, fully throwing himself into the category of geek. Most everyone had interests that could be considered normal; that was just a matter of society's overall views. Those who had many outliers, however, would always fall into a specific social class. Ah, but 'geek' wasn't exclusively a social thing. She looked about his age, so she'd have been in high school as well. "Though you'd only have been a geek under the surface of it all. Your looks, status and demeanor would have put you at the top of every social chart imaginable, even without magic and divinity. You'd probably have a high chance of being the sad type, surrounded by people but no less alone for it."

Depressing facts of social standards aside, Angelica expressed shock regarding human lifespans. To this, Charlemagne raised a brow. "80 is old where I'm from. By the time someone is that age, they've gone grey and wrinkly. Remember Ganelon from our Party? I'd place him somewhere between 60 and 80, visually. As for physical ability, that age puts most people in the ballpark of... well... Father An," he said, whispering that last bit.

One might have assumed the day couldn't get any stranger. At least, that would have been the case if Angelica didn't claim Astraea was her mother's name. Charlemagne's eyes widened. Tanned skin, deep-blue hair and an inviting aura that sent hundreds of teenage boys into their bedrooms or bathrooms after opening a pack of trading cards. How did he not notice immediately? He'd never seen the woman's face in that vision, but everything else about her so perfectly fit the card he played a thousand times. "Wow, I'm pretty dumb. I've been playing with your mom for months!" he stated. In the wake of uttering one realization, he had another. That sentence... didn't work. "Uh! I mean... well, you know what I mean," he added. "Anyway! I'm sure it all sounds weird, but it's just normal in that area. Now that I think about it, Edelfelt-dono would probably be uncommon. Someone outside Aincrad might call you that, for instance, but the people here would more likely call you Oujosan. Princess. Hime from more direct servants like... well, me."

According to Charles the world he lived in would have placed a pretty high standard upon her looks, demeanor and even her social status. Every kingdom had princesses so that sort of thing was likely a bit more common than normal. In a world without magic, she supposed the best one could do was look for physically attractive people. Whatever the case, Charles had some rather depressing things to say about life for those types in high society and strangely it resonated with her. "That doesn't actually sound too different from my life now, aside from the lack of magic to amuse me. I'd hope someone like that could catch the same break I did and end up someone fun to hang out with, like you and Jeanne were for me," she said giving it a bit of thought.

Moving past the sadness of being of high social standing and the few types of people capable of crossing the gaps to help the princes and princesses of the world. There was the matter of aging in that other world. According to Charles the age of eight left people looking at least as old as a man called Ganelon, whom she recalled being a much older than she would have enjoyed looking at long term. Whatever the case the actual physical ability of such people was more in line with the Holy Father, which was terrible by her own standards. "So without magic people in that age range have nothing going for them really? I mean aside from being old and presumably living fulfilling lives," she said as the extra thought which was added to avoid the harshness of her general assessment. Becoming basically physically useless didn't seem at all good.

Oh and the mention of the name of Angelica's mother, seemed to move a memory. Apparently, Angelica's mother was the star of a card deck played by Charles in his previous life. The amount of excitement he seemed to have about it, and the embarrassment of his word choice mad her giggle just a little. "Hehehe~ I did know what you meant. You do know it's always funnier when you try and fix it?~" she asked only managing to stifle giggles. And then there were other alternative use words and phrases. Ah, she liked the way those ones hit her ears better than any of the others she'd heard. "Okay, voting for one or both of those, they hit the ear better," she said giving a firm nod. As she said these words a portal opened up at the same place it'd been before in the library and out stepped the woman previously introduced as Ivy. She was tugging on one of her gloves and casually tossing locks out of her face. What exactly had she done when leaving the 79th floor?

True enough, the state Angelica would find herself in if she'd been born into his world was much the same as how she lived now. That was no way for anyone to live, Charlemagne believed... but he wasn't the only one to believe something like that. "You're not alone there. There's no need to worry. In that world, people like us have a way of finding each other. In a crowded room, someone who doesn't feel a sense of belonging can easily find out who else has that same feeling. With just a little push, there's a friendship blooming right before your eyes," he said, knowing the day he met Angelica was a somewhat similar situation to the given example.

Aging in both worlds had a few caveats, but there was an easy comparison to make. "It works pretty much the same. Like what we were talking about earlier, people in different environments age at different rates. Humans on the lower world here age quickly, so they die quickly. Where I'm from, there's no mana density in the atmosphere or the people. You get somewhere around 80 years, and you do with it what you can." That was about as detailed an explanation as he could give. Frankly, he was still without full understanding of this world's aging mechanics. Charlemagne lived day-by-day just as he always would, thinking ahead only to the next adventure or milestone, but never to the end. That was how he found happiness.

Maybe he shouldn't have bothered trying to correct what was said about Angelica's mother. If Angelica could find some amusement in his antics though, it didn't matter if he made a mistake or two. "I realize that now, yeah. It's really easy to get used to people who... react differently to that sort of sentence, is all," he clarified. As for the preferred titles Angelica would accept from his homeland, there was no further time to speak on the matter. A portal opened, and out came Ivy. She'd been true to her word that only a few minutes would be taken for the trip. "Sketchy business that doesn't have to be sketchy all done? What'd you find?" he asked of his comrade.

Ah, apparently friendships found their own way in this other world. That was an interesting notion. For someone like Angelica in her own understanding divine intervention of some sort would likely be necessary for two people to find each other. Whether it just be happenstance or a friendly push in the right direction by friends or family members. "That makes it sound pretty good, I was wondering about that part," she mused.

And then there was the matter of aging. According to Charles in a world without mana density at all, they managed to still live to eighty. "That actually means those sorts of humans are to be given a great deal of credit. Those here are exposed to mana and have much shorter lives sometimes from what I hear in those kinds of places. Maybe there is a bit more complexity to it in that world," she said giving it a bit of careful thought. Regardless she had the rest of her thoughts confirmed a great deal.

According to Charles some people would have had a much grander reaction to the way he phrased his previous sentences. "That sounds pretty strange overall," said Angelica. Though she'd encountered many an innuendo today, she didn't figure this was the sort of thing which everyone would be privy to. That aside there was the return of Ivy which was greeted by Charles and then by Angelica. "Welcome back~" she mentioned. A smirk came to Ivy's face as she looked to the princess giving a bow. "Thank you kindly, and you Charlie. Caution is the eldest child of wisdom. Or so the saying goes, and in this case, I am rather glad I won't be attached to looking into this. I am far less important and much easier to get rid of. I'd rather not add my name to any hidden targeting lists," she offered as her real reason for going about business she could have done legitimately with an amount of caution which was likely seen as extreme. "I found out basically nothing but by doing that I am able to make a few inferences if you'd like to know," she said quietly. "I should also say given what I've found out, I think you should be very careful with whom you approach any questions regarding all of this." That was the sort of warning she'd give in a moment like this. There was a sudden seriousness which left Angelica thinking. This woman seemed to very serious suddenly. She'd not be gone an entire hour or anything of the sort, what could she have discovered in her readings about Jeanne d'Arc's trial and execution which would have set her on edge.

Apart from connections made between awkward humans, apart from the surprising lifespans of those who had no magic, and apart from Charlemagne's misuse of innuendo time and time again, there was a small beacon of hope for past, present and future. With just a few key pieces of information, they could absolve Jeanne d'Arc of sin even retroactively. Ivy had returned from her trip to the archives, talking of caution as the offspring of wisdom. "And paranoia is the oldest enemy of faith. You're being really weird for someone who just did their normal job," he said while rising from his chair.

As expendable as Ivy considered herself, Charlemagne wondered what would place her on this alleged 'targeting list' she spoke of. She was the recordkeeper; looking into old files like Jeanne's could be considered a pastime of one with that title. Alas, it sounded as if she hadn't really uncovered a thing. Surely there was something in the file; Ivy just didn't know what she was looking for exactly. "It's fine if you didn't find anything out of the ordinary. We can get by with the basics," Charlemagne insisted. Ivy went on to say more, though. Caution was to be exercised when questioning anyone about the information she had, but why? It should have been no big deal. "Alright, you're being kinda weird now. What could you have found out that has you wanting to be so careful about it?"

According to Charles paranoia was the oldest enemy of faith. This was likely considered to be true, but Ivy had a very different take on that sort of thing, and she always would considering what she was before she came to be in this world in the first place. "I was a law student, Charlie. Skepticism is healthy, history has proven that blind faith has ended more lives than any singular paranoid person ever could," she said with all due stoicism. In this case, Angelica found herself agreeing with both of these people. The world would be a bad place if too many people were paranoid the same way the world would be a bad place if too many people blindly believed in every falsehood.

Moving on from that point apparently she was being strange, and they could get by with just the basics because they figured she didn't really know what they were looking for. Or at least this was how Ivy interpreted that statement. A sigh left her as she went ahead to gather her thoughts. "It isn't necessarily about what I found, it was about what I didn't find..." she explained carefully. "Jeanne d'Arc was interrogated initially for Conspiracy regarding a demonic presence. But it doesn't say what kind of demonic presence. It also says she was eventually found guilty of that crime, and of becoming a demon herself and executed. We know she was burned at the stake but that manner of death is quite uncommon. She also wasn't executed by Janessa nor was she interrogated by Olivier. Olivier wasn't yet here but Janessa was..." she explained of the situation. The more she spoke the more small twitches were occurring about her face. "There is also less information in these documents than what even school children were taught of this back home," she explained, taking a breath. "Now I should say I have a lot of skill at interpreting data. And I've spent a lot of time doing it. I expect things like certain witness names, the supposed demon's name and even certain aspects of the crime to be redacted when reading documents like this. It is commonly used to protect the privacy of others, not utter the name of evil..." she was gesturing with her hand as if the list of reasons was wide. "But there are also no records of her testimony. No documentation of any reasons she might have given for anything and no quotes for anything she said. Even her last words were stricken completely, and abridged for lack of a better term. Basically if you read this document at face value only one conclusion can be drawn," she explained the situation as calmly as she could. "The reason I am being so cautious about it, and the reason you should too, is because it just doesn't feel right. And in these kinds of scenarios behind a screen it usually goes down hill fast. And it's also not just the documents concerning her directly. Everything from around the same time period has similar redactions. No actual testimony about the event, no character witnesses, no offered explanations. All of this information at face value says an entire floor of her peers watched this girl get burned to death and no one felt anything about it, and that worries me." she said. Angelica heard her out and the words and the feeling behind them sounded true, and she walked over and handed the two of them her notes on the matter.

Strangely the notes she handed over were detailed and seemed to at least have a few clues about the redactions based on the spacing of letters and that sort of thing. The word Jeanne was initially noted as calling out was something redacted, 5 letters. Name of the Executioner redacted 8 letters 7 letters. Name of the person who claimed to know she'd colluded with demons, Redacted 6 letters 2 letters 4 letters.

So quick to admit her past was Ivy. Charlemagne understood her point, though he'd gained an opposing perspective over time. "Nobody's talking about blind anything. I've been adventuring for a millennium. The problem with people being too critical causes more deaths than you'll see in a court case. It spreads, festers and trickles down until your type sees the defendant in a murder case, who doesn't even realize himself that it all started six generations before he was born," Charlemagne rambled. If there was one thing he could be called too critical of, it was being too much of anything. Blind faith, extreme paranoia... both were terrible choices in reality. As such, he'd take whatever information she had at nothing more than face value, and he'd work from there.

So, what was it she found? Apparently she found less than what should have been. Jeanne was brought in under suspicion of demonic influence. That much was known by all. She was found guilty of becoming a demon in human flesh. Once more, this was common knowledge. She was burned at the stake, an uncommon form of execution. Charlemagne took a mental note of that one for later. Janessa was not the executioner, which was something else he'd put a pin in mentally. Having less information available than they had in the other world was of no concern to him. He'd seen first-hand how many points in 'history' were nonexistent in this reality. What were the matters of greatest importance though?

A testimony from Jeanne was omitted, along with her final words. Any take from other individuals was also missing, and upon viewing Ivy's notes, Charles came to realize this included three redacted names. Interesting. Now that he had the copy in front of him, he'd address concerns as he had them memorized. "That's a lot to take in, and definitely more than what we were looking to get from this. If I were to try rationalizing this, I'd assume Father An had Holy Fire used against her. If the belief was that someone as pure as Jeanne became a demon, Janessa's methods would have corrupted her directly. The Father could have refused to hear her testimony if he thought she was too far gone, which I'm guessing would be the case with the level of execution chosen. Hmm. These three names being omitted is annoying. It shouldn't be too hard to figure out who the executioner was; they'd be one of Liv's immediate predecessors. The one making claims... might not be too important, but maybe it is." In the end, Charlemagne sighed. The one piece of information they were looking for was not here, though there was a sample and some method of potential discovery. He placed the notes of Ivy on the table, along with both his hands as he began to lean. "This is what we're looking for. Five characters, one name. Everything we know says it's a demon, but... I'll tell you. Angie and I have ample reason to believe all the other gods aren't actually gone. We came to you so we could hopefully find the name Jeanne called out while burning. If it matches an old god and not some demon pretending to be one, we can clear Jeanne's name and save other people who'd be executed for being reached out to. We might have nothing but empty letters now, but if the executioner is still alive, maybe we can get some answers from them."

With all that rambling done, Charlemagne pushed himself away from the table. It seemed the day was fated to become longer still. That was fine. He even had a few thoughts regarding their next moves. "I'll keep caution in mind, but that's the focal point here. I think our best bet is to speak with Liv and find out what we can about whichever executioner was there that day. Thoughts? Objections?" he asked, looking from one lass to the other.

The moderates approach was what Charles took, this was also what Ivy expected. As a person who reached this world without knowing what gaming or co-op was like in their previous world, he'd taken to understanding things in a rather neutral way. Ivy had a different sort of opinion, some things couldn't be neutral, but she also wouldn't be the one to explain what it was about the framing of those documents she found so disturbing. To do so would get in the way of the developing opinions and she'd learned a long time ago, some people needed to learn the truth for themselves. The conclusions she came to based on her own experiences might have been flawed, but within the frame work of a story with an antagonist they made sense. "You know most of us like you because you have opinions like this... It isn't like I'm completely jaded Charles, I am just not completely innocent either, " she said finding herself smiling in spite of the situation. All she could think was his youth and innocence were showing and that she wouldn't be the one to ruin it for him. Even when this would have been in the context of the game she wouldn't have been the one to potentially spoil the story for him, even if it was a little obvious where it was going.

So then, what did Charles bring to the table of discussion. A rationalization, one which ignored any potential for someone to be an antagonist in the situation. Such was a point in favor of his innocence. All things said did make sense, if Jeanne d'Arc was indeed a demon. But the fact that he was even bothering to look into this situation meant he had more than his own gut feelings to ponder over. "Those do all sound like legitimate reasons for the missing information, a few of them I thought of myself..." said Ivy. Of course, she'd also come to a very different conclusion about that information but she took a step she doubted Charles would take in his own understanding without proof. As for the missing names she had a little to add. "I didn't have enough context to piece together the missing words. I am capable of it when the rest of the information isn't so redacted, but I can't say I know enough about the person as she existed here, nor enough about her history to pull potential names," she said. As for his plan in general, figuring out what name Jeanne called, and then figuring out how was the one in charge of the execution of Jeanne were all reasonable. "Liv is a good choice. She came in a bit after that and doesn't have any lapses in memory. I have no objections to that choice for consultation," Ivy mentioned willing to leave it at that. Angelica also nodded. "I don't see it as a problem either. I don't know this person directly, but I think we can trust Ivy's judgement," she said affirmatively. "You're too kind. Coldest room in the building, in case you're wondering where to look for Liv, east facing windows," she said in offer of where that woman might be.

"Well if you ask me, you're leaning too far to one side. That's my opinion. Cynicism killing wasn't an opinion; it's something I've been seeing happen since before I came here." For a moment, Charlemagne seemed to be reflecting negatively on many things. The truth of it all was that Charlemagne lacked innocence, but held himself to a certain standard of equality. Too often had he seen what absolute belief in either direction did. The purest and most corrupt beliefs were at war always, and both were often misguided in the end. While someone like Ivy sought some form of antagonist to prosecute, Charlemagne left open the remaining possibilities until something concrete appeared.

So, what if she came up with those same excuses? Her approach was far from terrible, often being of much use. In dealing with the woman for so long though, something was notably... missing from everything she said? Charlemagne had an inkling of that being the case. "I'm not the one looking to prosecute someone. If you've got something else, now's the time," he said plainly. Whatever the case, he could immediately assign one name that may have fit the most among those missing three. Perhaps the most notable feature of Jeanne d'Arc during what he knew and saw of her prime, was her ability to inspire... which created many followers, but few more than... "Gilles de Rais. He was Jeanne's most loyal follower, almost to a point of worship. He disappeared one day for some reason nobody knew. That last name has a pretty good chance of being him, I'd say. Considering how close he was to Jeanne, Aincrad might have something on him as well."

With all that said, Charlemagne was ready and willing to progress. Olivier would be the next one they spoke with as agreed by the trio, but there was one thing missing before that could be done. With only one set of directions, it seemed any seriousness in Charlemagne had become lighthearted outrage. "Eh?! I've been here for like two minutes! Do you expect me to search the whole east wing until I find a cold spot? Details, Ivy!"

Charles made the claim that Ivy might have been leaning too far to one side. He'd been around a while and had seen things go worse for the types of individuals who lived in paranoia and held it close. Not for one generation but for several. In answer to such a thing Ivy could only nod, "I respect that... I would even say that it's likely true without context, playing Devil's Advocate on my own behalf..." she said seeming to have made that little pun completely accidentally. Well, lawyer brain was one thing, but what she had a problem with was much bigger than a single event, perhaps that was too obvious. But such was why she tried to convey the information she gave more neutrally than she would have if it had been her own interests and not an investigation being held by two involved parties.

Admittedly, trying to be neutral about the information probably gave away quite a bit that she disliked something she found. She wasn't really trying to hide anything but she also wasn't trying to influence. The ethics in this particular situation were rather hard to navigate. By her own ability to understand them she was going to have a difficult time regardless. When asked if she had anything else to say, that such was the last time she gave it a fair bit of consideration. Would it be ethical for her to tell her own thoughts on this situation without any evidence. To say an individual conducting an investigation from a point of neutrality would be a bit too much like witness tampering. She didn't like potentially doing that as an idea, "Apologies, it'd be a conflict of interest to say more. Though in this case silence seems to be just as important as what is actually said," she murmured. Something about that statement resonated with Angelica. She wasn't quite sure why though... perhaps it was her mother explaining the justice needed blindness which led her to believe that Ivy might have been trying to avoid an emotional plea which could have given a specific direction to their investigation.

Moving on there was the matter of a certain name having popped up in the head of Charles. It referred to a follower of Jeanne d'Arc called Gilles de Rais. Given the number of letters in her assertions, that should have indeed been the name of the witness against Jeanne. Charles claimed he'd gone missing a while ago but that Aincrad might have information on him. Something about that man had come up in one of the last moments of study that Ivy had done by her original name. The Briar Scholar had watched a mock trial based on the Medieval trial of that man who'd been convicted of being a child serial killer. She'd watched as one of her classmates planted reasonable doubt in the minds of a fake jury about this man's innocence of crimes he'd confessed and had witnesses of directly. Her stomach turned. If there was magical world anything involving that man, and he was anywhere near the level of depraved that the records made him out to be... "If you go looking for a man with that name, take one of the combat specialists with you," she said as a matter of advice. Her instinct didn't like such a person existing properly in this world... and that whole scene she'd once watch play out, was definitely one of the things that had contributed to her writers block.

Oh well. As she gave silent consideration to those details she was told Charles needed more details about the whereabouts of one of their comrades. East wing facing windows and the cold termperature weren't enough for him to go by, he claimed. "Oh, well it isn't like I went with her or anything Charlie. Her habits say she is probably on one of the upper floors maybe the highest. Besides, even if you can't sense for her, I am pretty sure Angie can with the information I gave," she said looking to Angelica. the blonde lass had been deep in thought but, cold mana towards the east wing... yeah, she could feel that. "She's right. Top floor, east wing... room at the end of the hall."

"Trust me; my home country set me up for that sort of thing a long time ago. It's nothing to worry about, though. I'll take your viewpoint into consideration, if nothing else," he assured. When one of his comrades spoke, he listened. Though he personally disagreed with Ivy's approach, her counsel was valuable nonetheless. Such was ample enough reason that he wished to hear whatever additional information Ivy had. Sadly, she had nothing more to share... or rather, nothing more she decided to share. Conflict of interest? Whatever truth was behind that silence, the omission resulted in Charlemagne's eyes narrowing just briefly.

So, Ivy knew something she would not tell. He wouldn't pry, but he wouldn't forget. Charlemagne turned away without further hesitation, intending to head toward the palace's eastern wing. Hesitation occurred only when Ivy decided to give some warning. It wasn't what he'd been hoping to hear from her, but it was... something tangible. Gilles, if sought, should be approached only in the company of a powerful combatant. Luckily for Charlemagne, seeking Gilles was not on his list of things to do. "We're going to Olivier. Find out whatever you can about Gilles' disappearance before Jeanne's trial. If you manage anything, send it through Astolfo or Anais," he said flatly. No more time would be wasted. Charlemagne would make his way toward the east wing by Angelica's direction. He had nothing more to say, so he'd focus on doing. What could have been missing? Whatever it was, Olivier would be sure to shed some amount of light on something.

A statement of former life was one of the many things which didn't come often from Charles. Ivy recognized this for what it was, and in the moment gave some consideration. Understanding the nature of political intrigue was one thing, being prepared to actually deal with it was another. This much she understood. "I do trust you, but this isn't a view point so much as it is an instinct," she said which was absolutely true. Her ability to interpret information was a deviation of her instinct as a Saber two of her skills used in tandem likely would have led to a very specific kind of conclusion, but the point of looking into cold cases was fresh eyes. She didn't wish to taint the ideas being formed in other people's minds and change their ethics to balance around her own.

Ah, but he at least caught on to her lack of true expression. Even when explaining her stance on it, there was a marked change in Charles mood. It was pretty obvious to any who knew him, as he spoke the names of several of his comrades without their normal affectionate shortenings. Ivy herself realized this, but there was nothing she could do to change it. Instead she walked back over to this desk and began looking around. The information from Charles that Gilles de Rais was one of Jeanne's direct underlings meant there was probably a bit of information to be found here. She'd then go to the main library and cross reference it. "That is fine, I'll send someone else with the information as soon as it's ready..." she stated a small bow occurred as she watched the pair leave.

And indeed both of them were leaving, though Angelica managed to give the other woman a strange look, as if questioning what she'd done. And the only thing she did in response to such an imploring look was shrug. Hm, it was very strange to see such a reaction but she seemed to know it was as she saw it the right thing to do. She wondered what that girl knew of the situation that she formed such a strong opinion about it from so little time. She wondered what Charles was feeling about it that he'd said only that and aimed to leave just a few moments afterwards. As they walked up the stairs of the east wing, the temperature began to drop rather drastically. She didn't have much to say so she decided to question something instead. "What's going on in your head right now?" she asked seeming to wonder what his point was more than Ivy's. She had pieced together at least a bit of that woman's logic by talking to it, but Charles reaction was strange to her considering the shift in his mood.

Whatever the case, there was a room on the top floor of the east wing experiencing some minor renovations. A man who seemed to be quite dead within his brain was arranging curtains, while another was being used as a chair while directions were being given. A very calm woman sans the hat she normally wore atop her head was sitting in a room with an open door. "That's uneven, straighten it out. I have no intention of having crooked curtains." she demanded much to the men's immediate regression they began fixing things as she said. Looking in on the room it was about half finished all the while sharp blue eyes seemed to be taking in the work being done here.

Once out of the library, Charlemagne's eyes were forward constantly. Maybe he was swimming through his own thoughts, or maybe he wasn't. Either way, there were tasks ahead that could settle so many matters, they had to be done no matter what. Any mood-based baggage would have to be set aside whether he liked it or not. Ah, but what was this? Angelica spoke by the time they were ascending the stairs. What did she have to say? She questioned the goings-on of his mind for some reason. That was pointless. They had something to do; there was no use picking his brain for other matters. As for what was actually on his mind, well... a lot of things. What he'd give would only be what mattered. "Figuring out what Olivier knows about her seniors. Until she came along, Grand Inquisitor and Executioner were the same position. If she knows about her predecessors, she might know which one was in charge during Jeanne's execution. If she doesn't, we'll go to Janessa. If either of them knows, and that executioner is still alive, we'll go straight to them."

The answer he gave was straightforward, keeping with the plan ahead of them. Nothing else was of any importance. There would always come a time when one had to shut up and do their job, and now was such a time. Whatever secrets lay beneath this whole ordeal, he'd uncover them. Apparently that uncovering would begin in a very cold room, within which the blue-haired inquisitor sat upon some poor sod as she often did. It was to be expected that she'd resort to veritable slave labor just to decorate her room. Much like other things, that didn't matter one bit. "Olivier," he called out, stepping into the open door and standing erect just beyond the doorway. It seemed Charlemagne would be skipping pleasantries and introductions, for whatever reason he had to do so. "How much do you know about the former inquisitors?"

Angelica was presented with an answer to her inquiry. This one wasn't the type of answer she was looking for. She could piece together the plan herself by virtue of how they chose to go about things, but perhaps the lad was once again too far in his own mind. Or rather he'd decided to speed up his process knowing that Ivy had reason to feel particularly on edge about a case 1000 years old or more. "We both know that isn't what I meant, but fine... I suppose work first," she said calmly. Having made her understanding of the situation known, the approached that cold room and she found its contents strange.

A young woman sitting on top of a man's back, giving orders to a different man she was using to decorate her bedroom. This all seemed rather efficient to Angelica so she had nothing to say about it. However Charles seemed to be thinking something rather direct Olivier at the moment was sitting atop a man and managed to look a bit shocked. In most of the time she'd known Charles he only referred to people with full names when he was some kind of upset. "I don't know why you're talking like that but whatever it was, I didn't do it," she said clearly. Oh, she understood the mood shift, but she'd been around quite a while so it was obvious she could interpret moods better than most. She peeked over her shoulder and saw the princess and her brows drew together. There were many questions, but she supposed she'd start by answering the ones presented to her by Charles.

"I know quite a bit. Former Inquisitors were also Executioners. They did the job of extracting confessions from the sinful and carrying out the execution orders of the ones under their purview. High profile criminals tended to have an extra layer or two of tape to go through but usually one could potentially interrogate, judge and execute a person in a single day." she expressed. "Usually it is a job that passed down to families or people with particularly strong, instinct skills and high tier holy magic," she explained. "Or with the ability to use certain holy artifacts or weapons," she finished up that part. "Anyway, I became the Grand Inquisitor after my predecessor apparently went crazy after performing an execution. I became grand inquisitor but it didn't sit right with me to kill someone or something that wasn't armed and fighting for their lives. Punishments are fine but I'm not much of a murderer outside of war-type situations. Obviously he was suffering from job stress so I pushed for the jobs to be separated, and someone who could stomach the killing was instated to take over the role of Executioner," she explained of herself shifting on her seat at the man she sat upon seemed to be quite uncomfortable to her rear.

Charlemagne had never fully been in support of Olivier's methods. To each their own, he believed, but he sometimes wondered if the men she used as furniture had done anything to deserve the torture. Well... obviously not all of them considered it torture, so there were few times he could say anything. This time however, he paid no mind to the man upon which Olivier sat, nor to the one she made a worker drone of. He looked toward Olivier and Olivier alone, awaiting the answer to his question.

Before an answer, came a statement. Whatever happened, she didn't do it. It couldn't be said that anything happened, really. As far as Charlemagne was concerned, he once again came to realize something he'd been saying for years upon years. Alas, it didn't matter. He didn't even have anything to say about it. Questions needed answering, so he continued to wait for one.

Ah, a stroke of good fortune! Olivier claimed to know quite a bit about her predecessors, even going so far as to give the backstory of her immediate senior. The explanation he'd just given to Angelica was offered as well. The tale of how Olivier herself altered the position was inconsequential, but the amount of knowledge she knew brought forth hope that she'd know which of her seniors he sought. Actually... he recalled hearing whispers of the previous inquisitor going mad before Olivier was given the position. There was a lot of hearsay around that one, yet nothing concrete. "Good; my memory's trustworthy. I have two questions. First, who was the one in charge of Jeanne d'Arc's trial and execution? Second... are they alive?" If Olivier had a solid answer to his first question and an affirmative one to his second, Charlemagne figured they would make quick work of this case. Surely one who witnessed that execution first-hand would have the information they sought, which would put them on the path toward finding out if Jeanne worshipped a demon... or just another god.

Ah it seemed they were in luck. Olivier her strange methodology with men aside, was one with information which could help in their search. Hearing Charles questions it seemed she had some answers and reasonable background to give. Ah, being inquisitor, judge, and executioner was a bit too much for any one individual and someone had been made crazy by doing too much. Olivier in the opinion of Angelica was a kind individual, thinking of the stress of work on individuals instead of piling more responsibilities onto them. Beyond that there was extra information, and Olivier found herself shifting around to face the pair as they had the rest of this discussion.

"On a mission I see..." she said first and foremost. Ah, there it was, the mention of Jeanne d'Arc. Though Olivier never had the pleasure of meeting that woman, it seemed she'd left quite a mark on a lot of people. This alone was reason enough for her to be a bit wary. "Those questions are pretty easy to answer. The man who was responsible for her interrogation and execution was Geoffroy Therage, my immediate predecessor," she said carefully. "It was judged by 'The Holy Father' for those red tape reasons I mentioned earlier," she said giving that information freely as she did anything else even with Angelica standing there. She'd used quotation marks on her hands when saying that title but she was always against calling that man such a thing. She knew exactly who that girl was, but it wasn't her business whatever take she had on her father's behavior. Everyone had to learn the failures of humanity sometime, even the girl locked in her tower. "As for his status, he's alive. I've been keeping him on my prison floor in a cell, as comfortably as possible. He's... broken inside, but I don't find him to be dangerous to others, only himself. If you're going to see him you'll understand what I mean," she expressed in the moment. "Also if you are looking into this, you're going to have to tell Astolfo he still doesn't know. He's looking for her now and Janessa and I didn't have the heart to break it to him," she said carefully.

"As usual," Charlemagne said in response to Olivier's first assertion. He was almost always on some sort of mission. This one just happened to have nothing to do with Father An and his orders. Regardless, Olivier turned about to share information while facing her two visitors. Geoffrey Therage was the inquisitor/executioner they sought. With that information, it became clear that he was the very same man who'd gone mad, but... was he alive?

Yes. Apparently, Geoffrey was still alive even after succumbing to madness. Olivier had incarcerated him after determining that the only person he endangered was himself. This was good. Geoffrey may have been crazed, but if he had memory, there was a decent chance. If nothing else, perhaps they could even rely on one of their own. "As long as he remembers, it's fine. Janessa could get what we need from him, even if he's gone mute," he said. Ah, it seemed Olivier thought something was more imperative than seeking the former executioner. Astolfo had yet to be told of the whole Jeanne d'Arc ordeal, and had even been seeking the woman since their arrival. She and Janessa couldn't bring themselves to tell the lad who knew Jeanne most directly. "Let him keep looking for now, unless you've got the spare time to keep an eye on him afterwards. He might even be sent our way, if there's anything else coming our way from the archives." Without a doubt, informing Astolfo would require some... Astolfo surveillance, as it had once been called. The bubbliest of their ranks would not take kindly to the knowledge, and he'd have to be kept under watch to avoid massive incident. "So, unless you're willing to keep him chained-up until the investigation's done, I want to meet with Geoffrey. Show us to him."

It was the case that Charles was normally on missions, but it seemed like this wasn't the type of thing that Father An sent him to investigate. Upon seeing the pair together she made a few assumptions about the princess and Charles and figured that the lass might have wanted his help in determining what happened to the supposed saint. Whatever the case, she gave the information he wanted and Charles immediately implied that he wished to meet the man. His words about those memories seemed to insist upon even using Janessa to find out what they were if he couldn't properly communicate them. "Oh? That is a pretty extreme measure," she claimed knowing that whatever happened with Jeanne d'Arc was a thousand years ago. The sudden interest in the case was strange, but there were many reasons it might have come up.

Case in point, Astolfo, the pink haired femboy who knew Jeanne d'Arc personally. Apparently, if one was going to tell him about it, it would need to be done with the aptly named 'Astolfo Surveillance'. This must actually be extreme. "I mean I have some free time, but I might want Janessa for that as well... " she said. She fully thought herself capable of caging the lad if necessary, but he'd been through something and she was quite sure her methods wouldn't completely keep him away from whatever he planned to do. Janessa should be around to make sure he couldn't move if such a thing were taken into account. "Fine, I'll take you... both I assume?" she asked. It was strange to see the Holy Princess walking about, but she was confident nothing would occur that they couldn't take care of while she was with them.

She stood soon after, that man who'd been her chair was placing boots on her feet and then handing her her hat like some kind of whipped zombie. "Make sure that curtain goes up straight and finish up in here," she said while walking towards the door. There was no teleportation method for Olivier so she'd walk with them to the teleport and off to the floor she kept her prisoners.

"It's an extreme situation," Charlemagne offered in defense of the limits he'd go to. This opportunity could not be allowed to slip through their fingers. It had been too long since Jeanne's execution, too long without justice being properly served if they were on the right track. They couldn't let things like craziness or Astolfo's antics interrupt the process. The latter could have been managed, but even Olivier claimed she'd need Janessa for that. "There's no point wasting the manpower now. I'll tell him later myself if I have to," he said. Interestingly enough, Charlemagne had enough influence over Astolfo to forbid him from taking action. Of course, Charlemagne wasn't aware of that himself. If he had been, perhaps Astolfo would have known the truth ages ago. . .

Seeming to prefer the idea of not wrangling Astolfo before it was necessary, Olivier agreed to lead the way. She assumed both Charlemagne and Angelica would be taking the trip. She assumed properly. "Both, yes," Charlemagne confirmed. With Olivier going on to order her 'servants' around to cover her absence, Charlemagne stepped out of the room to wait. Ideally, this Geoffrey person would at least be capable of recalling and regurgitating information for one of his biggest spectacles. If not, they'd have to resort to something rather unpleasant. . .

"Obviously," said Olivier. She didn't know what brought about this interest in the case of Jeanne d'Arc, but she knew that if Charles set his heart on something he'd do it. There was always the possibility that the woman had done nothing wrong, and if that was the case, then people should likely be happy she was a saint and wouldn't just kill everyone involved as an act of vengeance. Whatever the case Charles claimed it wasn't worth wasting manpower to keep Astolfo in check. That made it sound like she should be preparing for battle, like the rest of this was only a formality of some sort, "Alright, but good luck keeping him out of it while you're actively looking into it," she said. It was somewhat surprising Astolfo wasn't currently in Charles' company.

Moving on from that point, there was the matter of both of these people being involved in the investigation. Olivier gave a casual glance towards Angelica and took solace in the fact that she didn't seem as odd as Father An, who probably would have never been involved in something like this. Of course, as they made their way to the prison floor, Olivier made a few statements. "I'll take you both straight back to Therage's cell, but there are quite a few cells between the start of that hall and the end where he is. I wouldn't make eye contact, and ignore any cries for help... I know that last bit is against most people's better natures, but prisoners are for the most part self-serving, they'll abuse any attention they're given," she explained of the situation. Angelica nodded her head at the explanation. It made sense she supposed. Whatever the case they entered the floor and Oliveir began to walk.

Cat calls, threats and all kinds of pleas came from the mouths of those currently being imprison. Olivier usually ignored them and so she had no problem, figuring her advice would be taken she kept walking towards the end of a hallway which seemed to get darker and darker as they approached. At the last door, there was a padded room with no sharp objects allowed inside. This was the cell of Geoffroy Therage. "Here you two are, I'll wait here. Remember he's pretty messed up..." she said not knowing what all the expected to get from this man as far as information was concerned, but he was one of the few people Olivier managed to feel bad for during her time as Grand Inquisitor.

Olivier was right. So long as this investigation was ongoing, Astolfo was a danger to the 12 Peers' ability to function within Aincrad. Him learning of Jeanne's absence and the reason behind it would put them all at risk of exile, which would effectively end the current mission. That couldn't be allowed, so Astolfo would know only when there was time to rein him in. Moving on, Olivier escorted Charlemagne and Angelica to the floor from which she operated, passing through the place of imprisonment with a few words of warning. She had multiple individuals under incarceration. They would be making noise of all sorts, including cries for help and the like. Charlemagne didn't need to be told such things should be ignored; he trusted that Olivier would only lock someone up with good reason. Whether she used them as furniture for good reason or not was still in question, but that was not a relevant topic at the time.

So, onward they went. As the group passed numerous cells, Charlemagne could hardly tell who each individual was calling out to. Well... the cat calls were obviously not intended for him, though some of them were the most concerning to hear. Continuing forward, he assumed Olivier was more than used to that part, and simply hoped Angelica managed to tune it all out. Pleas for help, however, were very... strange. He heard one particular man barking about his innocence, but... he knew that voice. That individual was an important figure among the Saxons, formerly belonging to Fierabras' group. Innocence was not something that man knew. Regardless, they would soon enough be approaching the final cell which... looked about on-brand for a madman's place of imprisonment.

Olivier made it clear that she would not be joining them in the room ahead. There was such darkness, the only figure he could make out was one shifting about in a corner, their form obscured by shadow. There was a... scratching. Charlemagne couldn't tell what was happening exactly, but he assumed this Geoffrey person was clawing at the padded wall. "Legendary understatement," Charlemagne said, casually pointing out a cliché as he stepped into the room. "Shut us inside," was the final thing he said to Olivier. Only one foot in the door on Charlemagne's part, and the older male within stopped his incessant scratching. Geoffrey sniffed the air. Something had his attention. "The Father visits? Has he learned his future, so bright and so dark? The child, the wife, the temptress? Which is it he brings with him?~" Geoffrey rambled, seeming to have immediately shifted a great deal of his attention toward Angelica.

They moved through this hall and various pleas and things were heard. Angelica for her part in this procession had her vocabulary increased by a vast array of words one wouldn't hear in her position. Some of them weren't even being yelled at her, and were things she understood to be directly related to the kind of dominating presence given off by one like Olivier. 'Step on me, general!' and 'You can use me as a chair, I gotta way better seat than my back!' and 'You'd look less bitchy with something in your mouth!' All of those sounded horrendous as things to say to people. If they weren't locked up for whatever they did, they likely deserved to be punched directly in the mouth for sheer audacity, by Angelica's standards at least. Though admittedly the things they yelled at her were no better. 'Come back, those tits are my salvation!' and 'I'd give my life to lick her feet!' followed by, 'Feet?! FEET?! I'd lick her shitter if she'd let me!' The voices went on and on, but Angelica could only process words she didn't know and become more confused by them. She'd have to ask someone about a few of those, and the confusion was visible across her knit brow though she said nothing about it.

Ah but she took Oliver's advice and looked nowhere towards them. Until they reached the dark room where a man was busy scratching at the walls. Apparently Charles wanted to be shut inside and Olivier wasn't the type to question orders from the man she chose to take them from. "Sure, easy though... he's not really a danger to anyone else but he's still pretty fragile," she said and after Angelica crossed the threshold she shut the door behind them. The first words out of this man's mouth were ones which didn't really make sense. The only people in this room were Charles and Angelica. "The Father isn't here. And those titles feel a bit weird to hear..." she finally managed. Well, it was best if they didn't upset this man while trying to get out of him the information they wanted. Why he assumed the father had come to visit she couldn't know.

Someone who proved dangerous to themselves was one to be approached with care; Charlemagne understood that well. In this case, he definitely couldn't have Geoffrey even trying something before they got their information. His order to lock them in the room with this man was based on that logic; he wouldn't allow an escape route. Not even two seconds spent within the cell, and Geoffrey's madness became clear. He started talking about the Father, presumably Father An. Attached to that mention was an allusion to Angelica, questioning her identity within the scope of a specific list. Child, wife and temptress were given. Well... she'd technically fit the first bill, but Father An was not here, as Angelica herself pointed out.

"Weird? No. True? Yes." Geoffrey spoke again while moving himself away from that dark corner. He stood, but he slouched. It seemed he was a rather tall individual, strangely muscular for someone imprisoned for nearly a millennium. He was soon visible beyond the shadows. His skin was tan, his hair long and grey. Facial hair was arranged embattled upon his lower jaw, and a deep scar was carved over his closed right eye. "The Father is here. Here." Upon repeating himself, Geoffrey glanced in Charlemagne's direction. His right eye opened then, appearing with a red ring instead of being amber like his other eye. "Heavenly Father, hallowed be thy... ho? Mother? Hard to say."

Geoffrey was moving about the room while Charlemagne visually inspected the walls. This man seemed to have a pension for symbols. He had repeatedly drawn a hexagon with four lines through it, their alignment just between a cross and an X. Strange... That seemed slightly familiar, and Charlemagne couldn't tell why. "I've never been anyone's mother, or father for that matter. Anyway, we've got questions. Do you remember Jeanne d'Arc?" Charlemagne asked. Geoffrey had returned to inspecting Angelica more directly, appearing infinitely curious about her for some strange reason. Even his glowing eye held a special alertness to it. The moment Jeanne d'Arc was brought up, though, Geoffrey became... excited? "Mother?! Yes, Mother was beautiful! Beautiful like Child here? Yes, but too much! Too much for man. Therage saw, but could not see! Took his eye for being unworthy, Mother. . ."

This day was bound to get more and more confused as it went on. The symbols on the wall as well as this man's crazed looking visage all spoke to some great disturbance. He seemed to be rather distraught about everything and even decided to correct Angelica's word choice. He claimed what he said was true. Actually the look of that was strange and Angelica found herself copying it into a gem of equal size and shape. Whatever the case, it was something weird.

As they moved on from this point, Charles took this man's attention and referred to Jeanne as mother. It was strange for Angelica to hear it wasn't the first time she'd heard a reference to mother, but it wasn't exactly the same thing. "My mom mentioned the Mother but it definitely wasn't Jeanne. And I am pretty sure everyone would have known if Jeanne had a kid, she loves kids..." she said logically. Beyond that this man claimed his eye was lost as a consequence for seeing something too great. "This really doesn't make sense," apparently there was a reference to Angelica as child. If this man was thinking from his perspective as formerly attached to Father An that at least made sense. "I don't think Jeanne would have wanted you to lose an eye, she's not that kind of person," Angelica mentioned while she fiddled with that new jewel in her fingers. What kind of information could she and Charles even get out of this man. His words were cryptic and seemed to be illogical at base.

"Jeanne never had children. There were some people who looked a bit like her, but they had to be more distant than that," Charlemagne added. He knew Jeanne had at least three siblings, and that she was the youngest of them. If their order of birth held true in this world at all, it made sense that one of the others would have children before she did. "No children, Mother. Child is Child, Father is Father, Mother is Mother. No children between," said Geoffrey. This man really wasn't keen on making sense to anyone speaking the common tongue.

More importantly, there was the matter of his eye and the apparent cost of gazing upon... Mother, as he put it. Jeanne wouldn't have taken anyone's eye, but perhaps some other force did? "Unworthy, unworthy! Too good for Therage. Eye must go," he stated. Something was in that eye─ something beyond humanity. Charlemagne had seen that hue of red before, but... that didn't make sense. Moving on, there was still a question yet to be fully answered. Maybe those crazed ramblings could be counted as enough. "Jeanne d'Arc. You were the executioner that day. You're someone who would know what she said at the stake. The records say she called to a demon. . ."

The moment Charlemagne spoke of Jeanne calling out to a demon, Geoffrey sprung into action. He darted toward the young man, grabbing him by the tunic with speed that surprised even the seasoned adventurer. Those eyes contained fury for a moment. Why? "Father! Holy Father knows? Holy Father... will make many mistakes. Plans gone astray, one life... twice lost! Mother knows Devil, Devil does not know Mother! No. Nexus. Nexus, Mother. Ask Child, Father! Child knows Nexus, Nexus knows Child! Nexus knows Father, but Father, no... Father does not know Nexus. But Father knows Child! Mm!" Geoffrey had begun nodding, as if anything he said made sense. There was even a smile upon the old man's face toward the end of his speech. "Father knows Child, Father knows Wife and Temptress. Wife, Child knows Nexus. Father can know Nexus, but Temptress... Temptress knows Devil. Temptress knows Devil, and Devil will know Nexus! Mother kill Father, Father kill Father. Nexus watching, waiting. Child and Wife, key Father! You see?!"

Alright, confirmation. Jeanne didn't have chilren, well Angelica knew that too. As for others who looked like her, there was an explanation. "One of the last times I saw Jeanne she mentioned finally seeing her eldest sister and claimed that she had quite a few nieces and nephews because of this," she said, that was a fair enough point. But it wasn't one which would be allowed to sand very long.

Geoffroy finally had words to share about 'Mother' as he called her and what she said. What she knew and what she was connected to. And while none of it really made sense his actions seemed to imply that Jeanne had nothing to do with demons from what he could tell. He also claimed child was not a reference to the Holy Maiden in anyway. No it seemed more specific than that. From what Angelica could gather this reference was directly for her. Ah, but what was this? He implied that the Holy Father might know and used a word that Angelica had never heard before. "What's a Nexus?" she asked, that didn't sound like the name of a demon, nor did it sound like the name of a god. It sounded like a thing, maybe a proper noun thing but a thing none the less. Though the rest of this man's words implied that Angelica knew of the Nexus. Yeah, that really didn't make much sense.

"I really don't see. This doesn't really make sense... but it sounds whatever a Nexus is it isn't something that could be considered god nor demon." If this man was telling the truth as his jumbled mind interpreted it, it was obvious that he saw some kind of plot coming in the future and that he was at least remorseful about the death of Jeanne d'Arc.

Nexus was a name repeated multiple times. This was not the first time Charlemagne heard of it. No, he last heard it mentioned... well over a thousand years before. In a moment, he could hear Jeanne d'Arc calling out to the Nexus He could hear it because he'd heard that word spoken in her voice before, oh so long ago in another world entirely. The Nexus was a feature in Age of Eternity, something that appeared in the video game as well as the trading card game, albeit in different ways of course. He only knew it to be some sort of interface for the video game. In terms of the card game, however, he could explain it fully. "The Nexus was... something in the card game I played─ the one like this world. There were rare Nexus cards that could alter the outcome of an entire match. If you had one, you could only have one in a 40-card deck; that's how powerful they are."

What he knew of the Nexus was that it was a powerful thing, but it was not a god by any means. Even the game he played contained cards with listed divine attributes, much like Astraea... Angelica's literal mother. How queer. "Nexus cards were applied to the entire playing field, so... a location? Is the Nexus where the other gods are stuck?" Charlemagne wondered. "Gods, no. No gods. Nexus, no gods. Child is right, Child knows. Wife knows better. Child of Father and Mother... also knows better, but not Child. Must find Wife, but Temptress! Father is weaker than Mother; Father must know Temptress. Nexus, too much for small Father. Too much for big Father! Father... is not big Father."

The ramblings were making less sense by the moment. At some point, Geoffroy had claimed 'Father' and 'Mother' had no children between them. Now, he claimed they did? "Let go of me. What are you even talking about? You just said mother and father don't have children!" Seeming to respect Charlemagne's wish, Geoffroy did indeed release him. Of course, that came with a slap to the back of Charlemagne's head as the man stepped away. "Stupid Father, stupid! Weak, stupid! Wife, teach Father! Mother, Father, Child but no Child! Simple! Cold devil woman less stupid than weak Father!"