Munetsuchi

Well, the carefulness of Charles's future aside, Sakura was now learning about computers. They were devices, that connected people. They shared knowledge, including maybe something like forbidden knowledge, and allowed people to do a whole bunch of things? That sounded interesting and strange. She couldn't help but look absolutely puzzled by the time he was finished speaking. She couldn't imagine what something like that would look, nor could she imagine how it was used. Rare was it for someone in Munetsuchi not to know something and being introduced to something completely foreign was refreshing among other things. "So, it's like a shared library and a hive mind, for knowlege both common and forbidden but not as a mental space and instead as a device of some sort? How would you regulate such a thing and filter knowledge to those who need it?" she asked as if to gain clarification. Still she was having some great problems conceptualizing this thing. It had to be amazing.

Moving on from matters of the internet, Charles spoke of his retained skills and claimed that many like him held on to such things even in the magical world. That really didn't make that much sense to Sakura but she wouldn't want anyone losing something they truly enjoyed either. "I might understand retaining something you enjoy, even as an analog for various reasons... but not why you wouldn't figure how to do it with magic and thus get the enjoyment of both..." she said seeming not to understand the limitations truly presented to humanity. Perhaps she was overly indulgent, and perhaps that was something she got from a specific parent of hers. Whatever the case, it seemed odd to choose between methods when you could use both or combine them to make something better. Speaking of making things potentially better there was the matter of Charles's map. He said it was likely impossible to copy something perfectly without magic, and that was likely true. He also wasn't sure how to account for his expanding map in the case of other places he already understood. "Hm, well... I suppose it would depend. If you have enough other places with varied placement around the world to work with, you could just place them based on where you were previously, unless there is some problem with the placement of this... Aincrad that I don't currently understand," she said. She knew how the upper world worked in general, but she didn't know of the special case that was Aincrad and its constant motion... so there was likely to be a bit of confusion around mapping the area.

Trying to explain computers and the internet in a magical world was more difficult than Charlemagne even imagined. He never thought it would be an easy thing, but he also never thought it would be so impossible. Luckily, Sakura's mental acuity led her to a rather accurate summary of what he was trying to say. "Well... yeah, actually. Not so much the hive mind thing, but everything else is pretty accurate. Though I guess it could be called a hive mind as well, just without the actual direct connections. In terms of everyone having an input, though, yeah. As for filtering... you kind of just don't. Most people don't even use it for all it's worth. It gets a lot of use for playing games, ordering food and... apparently looking for pictures of people's feet," he ended with a deep sigh.

Regardless of the human uses of modern computers, the thing of greatest importance was map creation. Sakura raised the point of learning a magical method to do things even with the preference of going at them analog. He couldn't discredit the belief, but he had a bit of personal experience that kept him resorting to old methods regardless. "I get what you're saying. It's just not usually an enjoyment thing for me. I'm often on an adventure of some sort, and I wind up in non-magic areas more often than I probably should," he answered. Frankly, he wouldn't turn his nose up at the opportunity to learn such magecrafts; he just never had the freedom to even consider the desire. Moving on, he leaned away from the drawing while Sakura explained the possibilities for other lands' placements. It certainly sounded like something done better with magic, as he had nowhere near enough parchment to work with for that sort of thing. "Hmm. I can't exactly throw it all on this, if I want this to be the final map. Without first knowing where the other areas are relative to this one, it'd be too much of a gamble. Aincrad also moves even more than other parts of Chaldea. We fell from right above here, but it could be hovering two countries away by now. That's one of the reasons I need to find Jeanne's HQ; it's the easiest place in Chaldea to work from. Finding out where it is now could make it easy to figure out Aincrad's trajectory at least."

Charles explanation of the internet and computers was indeed very strange to Sakura. She seemed to be on to the right idea, but lacked the 'human' factor in understanding how the connection was apparently utilized. They were all contributing but no one was apparently filtering. They used a device that should have been a massive information hub, for playing games, ordering food and... pictures of feet? "Why feet?" that was the main question here. Humans were strange creatures already, but she was beginning to think the ones from Charles's original world were exceptionally odd. At least the first two reasons he'd offered made a bit of sense, ordeirng food and playing games... food and leisure but the feet thing was really throwing off her understanding of humanity.

Ah, but it was fine, she could gently move on from her understanding of humanity. Instead she'd be faced with something else... the matter of mapping. According to Charles as an adventurer, he often found himself in anti-magic places. Because of this, the analog way of doing things was often his first thought. "Are non-magic areas really so common?" she found herself asking of the non-magic areas. As far as she understood general lands, non-mana rich lands were not super common, even in areas where the populations were mostly human. Beyond that, if such areas were set up on purpose she didn't understand why one wouldn't see them coming? Why would you enter them? Wouldn't it be much easier to build up one's resistance to outside interference? Oh well, those were all things to potentially cover a bit later. "You would indeed need to conserve space, and also keep the the orientation of the rest of the space in mind," she said of both the visual display as well as its potential artistic needs. As for the rest she was confused. "Is this HQ an important place? And if your former place is in constant motion how will that spot help? I will admit that Chaldea is one of the unknowns of this world to someone like me..." she said.

Why feet? It came as no surprise that Sakura's singular initial question was about that topic. He knew that was a thing to question, and he still wasn't expecting it to come so quickly. How would anyone truly respond? Well... he'd give the only reply he could. "Because a surprising number of people have a foot fetish. I have no idea why, but they take it very seriously," he answered.

Questionable kinks aside, there was another question presented. Sakura's secondary inquiry involved non-magic zones, or more specifically how common or uncommon they were. "They're very common in my experience at least. I've only seen a few 'natural' ones, but there are a lot of sects who have different methods of creating them. Some are easier to deal with than others. Most... are pretty annoying," he rambled. Leaning back further, Charlemagne crossed his arms and legs. He stared at the current map in comparison to the original segments, making an effort to visualize the full scale relative to other places he'd visited. Did he know of such a large gap between different lands? That would require some consideration, but first was the matter of Jeanne's headquarters to explain. "It's pretty important. The Holy Knights are stationed there, and it seems to be the pivotal point of Chaldea. Everything up there moves, but that island is like the center of gravity for some reason. Using it as a starting point would let us figure out where everything else was yesterday, and long-term... it'd probably be a little more like tracking the movement of comets and stuff... I think."

Strangely, there was an apparent answer to the question of why the internet and computers were mostly used for looking up pictures of feet. And the answer itself was simple but also not at all understandable. Humans where Charles were from apparently had foot fetishes. Not all of them, obviously but those with a sexual interest in feet were apparently very serious about it. "I am not judging but I still don't think I understand..." she said seemingly confused. All the information of the world, and apparently it was more important to look up feet for deviant purposes.

Moving on from feet, these anti-magic areas were not super common naturally but humans liked to create them and use them to inconvenience each other. Some of them are apparently easier to deal with than others and most are still annoying. Sakura gave a bit of consideration to this and had only one thing to say. "This sounds specifically like something humans would do, and they would be in a lot of trouble if they ever encountered someone with a legitimate magical existence instead of one who uses tools for magic or magecraft. It is dangerous to create an anti-magic zone without knowing what kind of magic is actually being used. Actually, you are now included in an existence that can simply decide to be unaffected by such things... in case you didn't realize," Sakura said. She had this thought because an anti-magic zone wouldn't stop her mother, nor most of her fathers from doing anything magical. In fact... a few of them would only become more problematic without the use of magic on their persons.

After giving her general thoughts about anti-magic's use as a weapon which truly was a bit frightening unless someone was truly human, there was the facts given about the way Chaldea worked. Wherever the Holy Knight's Headquarters was, it was apparently the center of gravity for the whole of the upper world. Though everything moved around it, apparently. "If everything is moving around that one spot or moving with it, then yes, it would become a lot more like stargazing, specifically if this Aincrad place is also tied into that particular rule. It may not be considering that order was part of that gods powers initially, it would still be a worthwhile thing to do. Though it does made me curious, I wonder what happened there that makes it a place with enough pull to be the center of Chaldea, maybe Otou-sama probably knows," she commented only adding in her own curiousity to make a consideration.

"It's fine. I don't think the rest of us understand either," he said regarding the extremeness of those who fetishized feet. He truly believed they would never be understood, though there were likely studies about that sort of thing... somewhere. Would Charlemagne himself be looking into the details? Absolutely not. Never would he go down a rabbit hole of that nature ─ at least not with any mindset he'd ever had in either life.

It did indeed seem a very human thing to create anti-magic zones as traps. Frankly though, he found humans were capable of only the weakest, most simplistic bounded fields that did away with one's magecraft ability. The true problem he had was with the more magically-inclined who managed such zones without losing their own abilities. "Humans have the hardest time setting one up, but they do try using them more often than anyone else. I can understand, though, considering humans' lack of magical ability," he surmised. From there, Sakura asserted a fact he'd given consideration to some moments before. At his current quality of existence, Charlemagne would have no issues with anti-magic zones, seemingly due to the power of Order. "I figured that would be the case. Not for the whole 'Order' reason; I thought it was just because I was some sort of divine now," he said, having never encountered such a bounded field that could stop true magic. Of course, there was an easy theory that barriers negating magecraft had to originate from something... but he still had his physical abilities regardless of all that.

As for using the Holy Knights' Headquarters as a point of origin, Charlemagne realized they were at another impasse. Other locations still needed placing on the lower world's map, and from there... they still had to find out where the center of Chaldea was. Now that he thought about it, there was a bit more to this entire ordeal than he was prepared for. "I'm not sure why it's the center, but I think something major did happen there in the past. Maybe it's worth asking whichever dad you're talking about? I'm just realizing I don't exactly have a lot to go by for this map thing anyway."

According to Charles, it was fine if Sakura didn't understand the foot related fetish. The general population didn't apparently understand it and it was normal. Well, that was fine and all, but how did such a small group manage to have so much say in what kind of information was disseminated in their stores? Surely someone should have been monitoring this system for exactly this sort of discrepancy?

Moving on from this, apparently humans had a hard time setting up the anti-magic zones. This was not at all surprising when one considered an innate understanding of magic to be one of the primary foundations of being able to stop it. It was hard to understand that which you didn't have, and even harder to control the variable natures if you didn't understand how many of them there could be. "But it's exactly lacking it that makes it hard for them, you can't truly stop things you don't really understand... too many potential variants that you don't understand," she said, but strangely this kind of absent thought wasn't just a human problem. Such was already obvious by Charles current type of existence. Speaking of that existence, Charles claimed to have some understanding of his current nature, but he thought that maybe his inability to be affected wasn't directly connected to 'Order' but instead a part of his growth into divinity. "Those things are interconnected at least a little. Order could keep conditions like those from applying to you, and Divinity could technically give you the potential to access to true magic, but those things aren't mutually exclusive. The Holy Grail itself is a bit outside of the nature of the 'gods' of this world, so that would have placed you outside of the rules. Natural divinities in this world though... aren't so special outside of their own domains," she explained.

The next topic was the matter of Charles map, which needed more details before its use. He said she should ask whichever her fathers she was talking about because he had no real idea of where to go for his next aspect of its creation. "Otou-sama is the one Kaa-sama called 'Exposition'," she said as a call back to her mother's teasing but less than charitable reference for that particular husband. Whatever the case, Sakura found herself looking around a bit more... "I can ask, but that would likely require a trip to his domain. Unless he knows I am looking for him... it's a bit complicated," she explained. Whatever the case, it seemed that their current bout of inspiration would be put on hold as they gathered a bit more information to place more work into the map. Time would be the thing to add to this particular work, and there would be no rushing it....

Too many times had Charlemagne seen humans get around lack of magical ability by disabling their enemies. He'd seen enough to know how they managed, and most took little effort from the people involved. "The thing is, the people who use them don't even have to understand them. Anti-magic zones are usually bounded fields created by Artifacts. People who want to do evil things find them most commonly in black markets. It's almost impossible to locate the original makers, but there are definitely a lot of people who spend time making and locating the Artifacts," he explained. Even with personal inability to accomplish something, humans had a knack for finding others who could acquire what they sought.

Regarding his ability to overcome anti-magic zones, Sakura claimed his divinity and Order were both at fault. Mostly, the Holy Grail was attributed to such an ability. That also made sense. So long as he remembered not to slack off on training due to a single potential immunity, Charlemagne figured his adventures were turning around for the better. Whatever the case, they would now have to rely on the most aloof of Sakura's fathers... if he could be reached. 'Complicated' was a simple way of putting things. Either a trip to some secret domain was necessary, or... that father had to know Sakura was looking for him. "Yeah, that definitely sounds─" Charlemagne began. His statement, however, would be completed by the voice of another. "Complicated? It's really not," answered none other than Solomon, who appeared as if he'd been standing alongside the two all along. "W─uah!" Charlemagne exclaimed incoherently. As if purposefully ignoring the lad's shocked state, Solomon walked around the two and continued speaking. "This issue is more easily solved than you both realize. Remember, the Holy Grail is this world's first portkey. If Jeanne d'Arc is the one you seek, it should be known that even without a grail, she remains connected to the Nexus," he explained without hesitation.

Charles had much to say about the ingenuity of humans and their abilities to find people to do things for them they that were not capable of. Non-magic zones were generally bounded fields created by artifacts which were made by people who understood them. "Sou ka, I suppose there are to be points given for fortitude in that case, but I can't say I understand human desires at all..." she murmured. At this point in her rather short life, humans were simply weird, and self-destructive creatures who may have good ideas from time to time. Yes, only slightly better and slightly worse than animals, ignoring biological signs and making up their own for whatever reason. The idea of a black market existing specifically to get things one can't make and wants to use as a weapon against another person, was odd to Sakura.

Sakura's mention of the complications of finding her more aloof father were ones she wasn't sure how to explain. In truth, she knew it wouldn't necessarily be hard to find him, unless she simply wasn't meant to, such was the nature of the clairvoyant in this world. As if to further prove this point, as they stood here, Solomon appeared as if he'd been with them this entire time, and began explaining. "Ohayougouzaimasu, Otou-sama!" Sakura managed as always pleased to see any of her fathers. Beyond that according to Solomon it would be rather easy to find Jeanne d'Arc because she was still connected to the Nexus even if she didn't currently possess her grail. Ah, that was rather interesting. "Sou ka, I didn't know it had that sort of functionality. Admittedly I am not sure about the term portkey..." Sakura mentioned. She also was only mildly aware of who it was the lad was looking for. It wasn't someone she saw in her mind before so she had no reason to have a reference for it. "Hm, I have another question... that place where the Holy Knights Headquarters is, why does it have enough pull to be the center of Chaldea?" she asked wanting her own curiosity addressed as well.

Sakura wasn't the first to understand nothing of human desires, and she certainly wouldn't be the last. For starters, humans hardly understood one another; most wars began based on that fact. That was a separate matter entirely, however; he wouldn't burden Sakura with additional reason to judge humanity. There were plenty of existing reasons to pass judgment on mankind, but so many reasons to appreciate them as well. He surely wasn't going to contribute to the former when Sakura was lacking in human interaction.

With the appearance of Solomon, Charlemagne became stiff as a board. Why did Sakura's fathers have to appear in such frightening ways? He couldn't think of another time this happened, but it already felt like a habit shared by multiple Myouou. Irrespective of the lad's shocked state, Solomon gave his explanation... and received the typical greeting of his daughter. "Good to see you again so soon, Sakura. You've grown again already, I see... and you are well on your way to even more explosive developments. I can't wait to see your next developments for myself," he said proudly, a hand reaching out to land atop the girl's head. Strangely, there was a certain lack of physical aspect to that hand. He could touch her head, but not truly ─ as if this form was only half a manifestation. In truth, Solomon was only projecting himself into this realm currently. He needed only explain a few things. "A portkey in the traditional sense is an object imbued with magecraft, linking the item to a certain place to allow transportation. In the Holy Grail's case, it is a thing of true magic ─ it will forever be linked to the Nexus... though your form of grail seems to have made similar connections elsewhere. Excellent work, if I didn't say before," he stated.

Charlemagne's heart was beating out of his chest, but he did manage to listen closely enough. If he couldn't find Jeanne easily, he could just go to a place she could be contacted from. "Young Paladin, your belief is true. Good luck. Sakura..." Solomon paused, thinking to address her curiosity about the Holy Knights' Headquarters. He had the answer she sought, of course, but now was not the time she was meant to know. "I do hate when I can't answer your questions, but I'm afraid this is a truth I am not meant to offer. Though... I can say your wait won't be a long one. Is that satisfactory enough?"