Charles Patricius

Ah, Yuuya wasn't the only person who'd gone through the vegetarian diet phase. In his mind, the lad heaved a sigh of relief. He always expected to be the odd man out, but three others had openly agreed to doing the same thing he did. Actually... three was an inaccurate number. "Me too, dude. Though uh... it wasn't so much a conscious decision for me. I lived a pretty long time on just cup ramen, if I remember correctly," Charlemagne mused. Not much to his surprise, Charlemagne then heard Sakura agreeing with her father's opinion about veganism. Well, it sounded more like an opinion about modern human culture in general. If he was to be honest, Charlemagne would agree as well. "Trust me, we get it. Most of us just sit around watching the rest of us complain about one thing, then complain about its polar opposite as if the first thing was never a problem. Nobody's consistent anymore─" he complained. It seemed Charlemagne had mentally been taken back over a thousand years, to when his life was on Gaia.

Meanwhile, Ailen was en route to the kitchen ─ which wasn't incredibly separated from the sitting room. He took to a counter containing this apparent 'rice cooker' device, still able to easily see the others as they sat and conversed. Ah, it seemed he wouldn't be alone in this journey. Anais had given a brief explanation about rice cookers' functionality, and Yume decided to tag along to the kitchen. The elf was already fiddling with this electric thing, taking note of its multiple buttons and the like. "Strange. It has the look of a sealed cauldron with multiple little additions. How is one expected to perfect the cook in a sealed device? Has someone really studied the time required for well-executed rice of various types, and applied those times to an Artifact? Surely there must be more to it."

Ah, and Yuuya wasn't the lone male who ended up vegetarian for a while. Apparently, Charles had taken the typical male route and ended up eating weeks worth of cup ramen. "That actually happens? Wow..." Anais murmured as she finished up yet another cup. Of the eight she had to make... five had been completed over the course of the day after their type and shape were decided. There was also a response to Sakura about how humans understood and also complained about the lack of consistency. "Yeah, it really is a problem, but too much access, too many interpretations... too many less than reputable people who have influence over a wide audience," Anais murmured. She knew most of the problems with humanity stemmed from the pervasive nature of misinformation. "Those were pretty insightful takes. At least a few kids have their heads on straight," Martha commented about both Anais and Charles. "It isn't all bad though... some interesting things happen when you get a bunch of people together sometimes," she added. She would be softening the blow of the human world as much as she could. She was a history teacher after all... a complete view was necessary to understand the world. "Okay, I can understand this a bit better now," she said not fully understanding how misinformation spread but understanding how people came to be outside of it.

Speaking of understanding Ailen was joined in the kitchen by Yume and while they were both mostly visible and still within range of the conversation it was am interesting set up for a kitchen. 'Oh? Someone like Mi-chan could hide by counters this high...' she thought as she leaned against one and looked over the rice cooker. Ailen's own speech about it, would be taken into account. "Sealed cauldron is pretty accurate. And the exact science of it is lost on me but these seemed to be pretty standard settings..." Yume mentioned. Anais was still passively involved and would fill in the rest. "Billions of people eat rice on Gaia. So... the science of it has been repeated more times than any one person could have in a single lifetime. The kinds of grains, amount of water, oil, and salt needed to cook at a specific temperature for a specific amount of time, have been averaged for the sake of convenience. Call it the world's cumulative knowledge of rice making," Anais mentioned. "So basically, long grain, medium or short grain rice, white or brown and then put everything inside... and close it and hit start," she expressed, while pointing to the buttons which needed to be pressed. Pressing the button on the front which made the lid lift and showed the removable small pot inside. "For pots like these... every one cup of rice needs two cups of water. A few grams of salt, and a few grams of oil," Yume commented. "Oh and I don't know if it's common here or not, but typically we rinse the rice... it makes it fluffier or something, and keeps a little Miko from biting your head off about being an incompetent young adult~" Yume added which made Anais smile. They'd once had quite the argument about the necessity of rinsing rice.

Despite the surprise that people actually lived on cup ramen in their world, Charlemagne had certainly done it in his previous life. His free hand was soon found atop his head, rubbing through his hair as he chuckled abashedly. "Eheh. Yeah, well... busy life, y'know?" he said, knowing the reason for that diet was primarily deck creation for some card game tournament. Moving on from that, Anais shared the opinion that human society was on a very self-destructive path, and gave reasons for her belief. Martha took solace in seeing youths have such opinions, to which Charlemagne had one thing to say. "I am so much older than you," he blurted out. As for Sakura's understanding, there was little to be said... apart from a warning. "Just be careful when we get there. People are really dumb, and it's like they all want to infect everyone else to create some kind of hive mind. The biggest problem might be when people take offense on someone else's behalf, when they can't even relate to the situation they're talking about. I remember that one now. What were they called? Social...?"

Ailen was being helped by both lasses still, even though Anais remained at the table. He would soon have great knowledge under his belt, though something remained strange about this device. No matter; it was beyond satisfying to know the nonmagical humans of Gaia could still band together and pool their knowledge for something like this. To do so and create technology specifically made to cook something was... so very human, in a good way. "Intriguing. It seems like such a waste of time, but I can't call it such if rice is such a staple," he said while watching Yume's finger, as it pointed out individual buttons for different functions. "I assume then, it functions just as a sealed cauldron does? If one were truly to start it and leave it alone, there is much freedom in the meantime to do other things," the elf surmised. The instructions Yume offered were quite standard, though Ailen took issue with one thing. She spoke of rinsing rice as if it had some benefits. "Why would you do that? If it has sufficient mana, there should be no need; it should be perfectly textured from its natural state. Wetting it too soon would only remove its firmness and let its mana leak out. In the case of food, that is the exact opposite of the desired outcome."

"I mean I get it... I used to get really wrapped up in compositions or pushing deadlines and forgetting to eat... just never changed diets over it," Anais explained. Moving on from this a nostalgic bit of speech from Martha seemed to bring out from Charles the idea that he was older than her. She could only scoff about that, knowing that he was right in terms of this world but also very wrong, and she wasn't sure why she knew that factually. "Only here... " Martha mentioned knowing they were heading back to Gaia she was sure her status as an adult was way more properly useful. Ah but Charles had more to say, and Sakura was sure to absorb the information even when he didn't have all the words he needed. His taper of social got Yume to contribute from the kitchen given her more recent life in the other world. "Social Justice Warriors... which makes them sound way cooler than just a bunch of people who sit around and judge others based on their skewed values of life," she commented with a scoff. "There there, senpai," Anais murmured knowing why the girl held such a high dislike for that sort of group. "Oh? Well avoiding stupidity is something I'd do naturally... so it is no problem. Still... non-magical life seems like it will present some interesting new challenges," Sakura asserted. Humans held such interesting notions.

Anais kept her attention split which was something she seemed to do rather easily. Even so, the words of Ailen graced her ears repeatedly as he questioned the functionality of a rice cooker. "Yeah, just like that.. it's good for food prep. Put on the rice first then you can commit to other preparations and have everything hot and ready at the same time. Humans basically split the day into three blocks so you have to get as many things done at the same time as possible," Yume explained her understanding, and Anais gave a gentle nod of her head. Still there was much to be said about rice, but the differences seemed to be world based. "Eh? Is it so different here..." Yume questioned. "You wash rice because it contains a lot of starch and it won't cook evenly or taste right if you don't. It comes out all dense, and since it is a dried food, hydrating it is necessary to make sure it absorbs the proper flavors..." Anais explained the science of cooking as she understood it. "Though given the things floating in my head about ingredients here. I can see why it wouldn't be necessary. Just... on Gaia if the food is from there... wash the rice," she added. The random things that Anais was firm about were so weird. "Your sticking points are all so weird, Mi-chan~" Yume commented seeming to find it amusing beyond anything else. Well with dinner being readied it didn't really matter what Anais was upset about, technically speaking Yume was becoming more excited about returning to the other world, if only to more firmly bring her friend back the front of her own personality and help along her cycle through the mentors of Munetsuchi.

"I wouldn't really say I changed diets. It was more like... I kept forgetting to eat, and that was the quickest, easiest thing available when I started starving. That's a habit I never really managed to get rid of," Charlemagne admitted. Even after spending a thousand years in this magical world, he still let himself fall too deeply into some things that made him forget to eat. Luckily, he had comrades and the occasional group meal to keep him stable. Moving on from that, though, Martha stated that his age applied only in this world. Why that mattered, he didn't know, but he had one more thing to say. "Woah, hold your horses there young lady! Respect your elders, and don't try to grow up too quickly. Hold fast to youth while you still have it~" he teased, adding a bit of trembling for flair. While that happened, Yume gave the missing words he'd been looking for. Social Justice Warriors did almost sound cool... until one knew what they really were. "Oh yeah! That had to be the biggest waste of a title, like... ever. We should make a group of like... Civil Freedom Knights or something. The Rightful Rights Society! We could have an entire organization dedicated to helping people be left the hell alone!" he exclaimed.

Ailen was elated. Being able to virtually ignore one component of the meal while it cooked, was quite the boon as an idea. The elf was quick to gather several cups of rice to dump into the cooking apparatus, only to hear the strangest thing about Gaia's rice in the meantime. "Hmm. I see. That does seem consistent with a grain that has lost much of its mana to time, or low-mana environment when growing. What you know as starch is, in fact, stagnant mana that has been expelled from certain plants. It serves the purpose of being a type of emergency source when survival requires, but it is otherwise blank and purposeless. Though it does serve great purpose as a binding agent that blends the mana of separate ingredients, it is otherwise unnecessary and sometimes harmful to development when consumed. Too much empty mana can easily cause oversaturation of whatever it was consumed with, thus partially invalidating other sources of mana taken before and after. I suppose you could call it the key to an accidental diet imbalance," he rambled while throwing a few seasonings into the device.

Charles apparently had a habit of getting caught up in what he was doing and then forgetting about eating until it was an absolute necessity. It was a habit he had from his previous life that he couldn't just shake. "I noticed. I was on the last mission remember~" Anais chimed in, knowing that she'd felt more at home playing group mom than anything else. Ah, speaking of such activities she was now done with cup number six. Only two more to decorate, before a full set was complete. There was a joking conversation taking place between Charles and Martha, and given that it was now Martha's cup that Anais had taken to working on, her personality was being assessed. "I still beat up trembling old people," she offered with a smirk on her face. Ah, yes... a physical person, but like that one move from the anime she enjoyed. A fist with a dragon rising from it would be etched into the bottom of Martha's cup. That just made Sakura chuckle, "That was funny..." she mumbled still deciding that it was a joke. And it was mostly. As for Social Justice Warriors, apparently, Charles had an idea for a counter group. "Hoh? I'd join. Sign us up!" Yume said referencing herself and Anais knowing the other girl would also join.

From the kitchen Ailen began putting together his particular batch of rice as Yume looked on, leaning against the counter, for moral support. All the while, Ailen explained the nature of starch and why it might have been so problematic on Gaia. Those of Gaia knew however that it wasn't really just rice which was heavy in starch. And as she fiddled with her next to last cup, Anais looked up seemingly stunned. "Shishou, just explained magically why bread makes you fat... and I am not sure I wanted to know that information but now that I have it... it makes sense," she said shaking her head. "He really did... it's crazy how easy some things seem to translate, and how many other things are lost after you spend so much time here..." Yume commented seeming to be having a quick gander at the group at large. This was going to be a very interesting trip back to Gaia. And she thought this as she smirked a little, perhaps these small breaks would be good for everyone.

"Well yeah, but... you haven't seen the worst of it. You guys keep me balanced," Charlemagne said in response to Anais's addition. There was much she'd yet to see ─ some things that Astolfo knew well from before Aincrad. "It was pretty terrible," the pink-haired lad added. Moving on, Martha continued along the topic of age between herself and Charlemagne. Apparently, she beat up trembling old people. Charlemagne looked aghast. "So they just let anyone be a Saint now? If you want to fight, I'll stomp you," he offered as challenge.

Speaking of challenges, Ailen was soon to encounter one of a different nature. The rice cooker seemed as full as he wished it to be, so he closed the lid and bent at the waist. A bit of inspection was in order to figure out the technology. He could easily figure out how it worked, yet there were some oddities and unknowns still. "Might I ask your assistance? Honestly, I have no idea what sort of time is even reasonable. Or is there perhaps something else to it because of these other buttons?" he asked, his face mere centimeters from the device. "I was going to say there is much still to teach, but it seems I have much to learn as well. This trip to another world will be enlightening. I'm quite excited."

Charles made the claim that the group kept him balanced, and that Anais hadn't seen the worst of his bad habits. Strangely enough, it was Astolfo to cosign on the lad's lack of care for himself. "Well, at least you acknowledge, it's not in your control..." Anais said. She'd quietly made a similar decision to leave her well-being in someone else's hands. As much as Charles apparently had a problem eating, the elafia had problems sleeping, even in her previous life... and having others around to keep track helped out a great deal. She'd already agreed to that sort of arrangement with Ailen even now. As she thought it over, the aggression of someone like Martha made itself known as she claimed she'd beat up trembling old people. This gained her a bit of a challenge from Charles and she looked at him with a smirk on her face. "The word saint doesn't mean what you think it does, and you can try~" Martha mentioned, . She was of course a very straight-forward person. If a challenge was issued she'd have no problem accepting it, in fact those new chopsticks of hers, were pulled out of her gauntlet and she began twisting up her hair into the appropriate bun. "These really are nice~" she squealed about the sticks she was rotating around her fingers, ah but the seriousness in her face was playing across the surface of her skin and in the dangerous quality of those now crystal clear eyes.

All the while, Ailen had filled his container and was now thinking about how to go about setting this particular machine. He studied it while being bent at the waist his face exceedingly close to the display, and Yume watched with wide eyes. She understood in this moment her friend's newfound obsession with this elf. "As far as I know you can just set a time, or... let it figure it out," she said while looking at the button before deciding which ones to press. "If you're going to use the automatic settings the cooker usually figures it out based on weight and volume but the timing of it will be less precise. Basically it will spend a few minutes heating up and calculating. Of course, most rice only takes about 20 minutes to cook but that takes into account being in control of the heat," Anais mentioned as she worked on this other design. "Well, as the least technologically advanced person in our group... I say auto and let the rest sort itself out," said Yume as she pressed the buttons implied by Anais's speech and the little display began turning after the lid closed. "I'm glad you're excited, Shishou. Technology is pretty fun... if a bit overwhelming but I wonder if this will be as interesting for you guys as coming over here was for us..." Anais mentioned. Yume thought about it and shrugged. "I guess it could be potentially. Entertainment in our world is top notch at least~" she chimed, knowing that things like tv, music, movies and video games were prolific. Obviously, he could carry on from here and Yume would continue to lounge around the kitchen as she always did.

Martha was not one for idle jokes. When given a challenge, she rose to it without hesitation, and seemingly without much thought. Even at their would-be dinner table, she was producing a pair of chopsticks to put her hair away. She claimed he could try to 'stomp' her in combat, also noting that the word 'saint' didn't have the meaning he thought. How laughable. Given the week he'd been through thus far, Charlemagne could hardly even consider the meaning of most words as he once did. What was a Saint, truly? He didn't know, nor was he bothered. What did bother him, was how quick Martha was to take action. "Eh? Now?! You've got to be joking; we're about to have dinner!" he said, not sure at all if it would work.

Meanwhile, Ailen was receiving assistance from a demoness. She seemed to hesitate for some reason or another, but in a matter of moments, she was also upon the device, setting it to automatic in accordance with Anais's guidance. He, too, would have made that choice. As Yume pressed the button, he remained in close proximity to the cooker. "I was thinking much the same. It would be ideal to see its quality without interference. Now, I'm assuming this is a timer?" he questioned while addressing a digital readout that had yet to show a number. Whatever the machine was doing, Ailen had other things to start. He first had to acquire an egg ─ just one for the group. It was no normal egg, however, as its size was roughly that of a sports ball. A pearlescent, aquatic orb with a smooth and translucent shell was held in Ailen's left hand. Its iridescent colors and intricate patterns were reminiscent of tropical fish scales, but its shell was much more solid than it appeared. On Ailen's right middle finger, that strange gauntlet he wore took the shape of a ball-point hammer with which he tapped the egg repeatedly, carefully even. He took note of Yume's continued presence in the kitchen. One might wonder what she was doing. "Were you looking for a task, or perhaps something else? Cooking and alchemy are synonymous, so if it is learning you seek, you've chosen an excellent time and place."

Martha indeed didn't take to idleness, well at least not for her personally. She'd joke and try to make sure others didn't fight, but that wouldn't stop her from picking or accepting one or two for herself. Here and now she was preparing for a boxing match with Charles who'd claimed he could 'stomp' her mostly because she wanted to see if he could, and get a test for her newfound power. Ah, but soon after he seemed to be backtracking a bit... dinner was soon? "Did you not mean now? Shame..." she muttered. Well her hair was already up, perhaps she be fighting after dinner instead?

Meanwhile, Yume and Ailen were in the kitchen. The demoness for her part in this, was aptly studying this elf teacher of her best friend and found him to be a rather interesting individual. Actually, the more she spoke to him, the more she understood Anais's current appreciation. Beyond that, the other girl and this man were quite a bit alike and she couldn't help but feel oddly around him. Watching him stare at the display she could only nod understanding his method. "Definitely a timer, but there is usually a trick to them, like it won't start counting down until its reached temperature or whatever..." she said. "Still, can't beat set it and forget it food..." she murmured still floating about in the kitchen. She remained watching as Ailen produced both egg and small hammer as he went about his ability to prepare the main course of the meal. She watched absently as he did this only to hear his question to her and shrug. "I just hang out in the kitchen while people are cooking... it's interesting. I can pick up a lot through observation, but if you need assistance or someone to hold a spatula for emotional support, it's one of my better skills~" she claimed casually. "She's a kitchen hawk and likes to wait around for chef snacks~" Anais murmured, finally placing the finishing touches on the cup she was working on. Anais realized that she knew quite a lot about Shinomiya Kaguya and that she was the girl she'd previously had a crush on... her face tinted slightly at the realization but she could only hope her soul didn't shout that information. Sakura for her part in this, was now focused on Anais's handicrafts which were being created with fine-tuned mana control. The final cup which needed a symbol was the one for Yuuya... and given his previous luck in the game she decided a door and a clover would be the best representations on his.