With the new piece of information that was given to him by the Goddess, Richard decided to add "Research on Solomon" in his list of things to do but-

"Master! The Healers Guild wishes to join us!"

One of the women who was on her break rushed into the hall and called out to Richard.

"Healers Guild?"

The name was unfamiliar, Richard was not aware of such a group even existing.

He turned to Serenity who also shook her head, even though she didn’t know about them, which meant that the group was not part of any of the major factions.

But that was not a surprise to Richard, there were bound to be small independent groups existing within the system.

Though the question was-

How did they know?

Richard didn’t spread the fact that he was recruiting people nor did he spread any news about his method of taking in those he defeated.

For all the other factions knew, Richard was killing them on the spot and disposing of their bodies through some means.

Because of that, for a small mystic group to willingly come forward and request to join...

Richard had a few guesses as to how they were able to get news about his forceful recruitment but for now, he decided to meet with them first.

— — —

Angelica, that was her name, or at least, that is the name she gave to herself ever since she decided to live her life in the mystical side of the world.

She had initially lived as a regular person, living a normal life where she worked for the day and returned home to sleep at night.

There was nothing strange or different in her life. Just a regular low income worker struggling to make ends meet on the daily.

Yet that changed when she inherited her grandmother’s legacy.

Since then, like a classic story from manhwa, Angelica was dragged into a world that she did not know existed.

Alas, unlike the main characters of those tales, she did not inherit a system nor was she the scion of a powerful entity or descendant of a rich clan that had fallen to ruin.

She was just the last inheritor of an old lady who sold mystic salves for a living.

Moreover, what she inherited was a small plot of land with a rundown bamboo cabin in the middle of the province.

At first she despaired about abandoning everything she built up to take on the inheritance she received but in time- she found out her own talent.

With her knowledge of the modern world and business, Angelica was able to transform her grandmother’s small business that sold mystical ointments to the poor around her for dirt cheap.

Now, she was the leader of an underground network of mystical drug trade.

Though she did not sell any drugs that would cause harm and addiction.

Instead, her "drugs" were actual medicine, yet because it was traditional calling it medicine was difficult as it was not officially a registered treatment.

Moreover, since she had to remain underground due to the nature of mysticism, her products ultimately got stamped with the label of "drug" despite being nothing more than skin care ointments and beauty products.

Her products had no harmful side effects and their medicinal properties were proven by Angelica herself.

She prided herself in the treatments she concocted that turned her tan skin white, removed the blemishes on her skin and the salves that activated the cells causing a natural fat burning effect that boosted ones alertness and energy.

Because of this, despite not being an actual power in the mystical community, Angelica and her company which she turned into a mystical group under the name "Healers Guild" held quite a substantial amount of influence.

After all, women were creatures who were obsessed with beauty and with actual results, even men would desire such things.

Whether it was for their partner or themselves, when the chance to improve one’s beauty came, people would immediately rush in.

Of course, Angelica made sure that her products were not sold on the cheap.

Supply and Demand- even with her low educational attainments, Angelica was still able to understand such things.

Many wanted to steal her products but by being the sole producer, Angelica was able to maintain her monopoly without worry.

Her subordinates’ jobs were simple, distribution and accounting.

Angelica had a whole distribution network, hundreds of thousands of customers and she was the only producer of the actual mystic medication.

Her subordinates could, at best, create actual traditional medicine.

While they had actual effects, they were not as potent as the actual mystical versions of those medications.

She obtained wealth and power, success came to her and now as she entered her thirties, Angelica found an illness that even her salves can’t cure-

Aging...

Science claims to have methods to deal with aging.

Anti aging cream, anti aging soap, anti aging food/supplements-

Even in a country like America, people constantly strove to find ways to beat aging.

Yet science could only slow down or make someone "feel" as if they were younger.

Angelica thought that she could, like before, do the impossible and find a way to defeat aging yet-

[American Witches Cure Cancer!]

[The solution to obesity! A natural way to be healthier, a drink that boosts metabolism, burns fat and gives you the strength to lift twice your weight!]

[End of Disability? Witches provide medicine that could bring back vision and restore nerves and broken bones!]

She thought that the issues in America would result in the culling of witches or a long drawn out internal war within the nation.

Yet in less than a year, the people of America went from going on witch hunts to protesting for the protection of Witches.

Although there was significant push back from giants in the pharmaceutical industry, people have long grown to despise these corporate giants.

What had started as a symbol of fear had now become a symbol of freedom.

The magic that people feared when it first came to light was now an unfortunate technology that was pushed back by the people in power who wanted to have all the riches of the world to themselves.

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic"

A quote from science fiction had been used as a slogan, but with magic and witches being fictional just months prior, few cared about the source of such a quote.

It became a rallying call for the people who were suffering under immense debt due to medical bills. The elderly who had to give up most of their monthly pension to purchase maintenance medication that didn’t cure them and barely alleviated their pain.

Healthcare was one of the most expensive things in the US. It was now at the point where survival and release from pain was based not on whether a cure existed but whether one had the money to pay for it.

Using medicine, the witches in the US started a strong movement that was slowly but surely reaching the Philippines.

Even now, Angelica found herself under immense pressure.

The signs of aging that plagued her body and her various customers and supporters slowly put pressure on her to release the methods to create her salves...

Angelica had even found her home raided by police officers looking for illicit drugs.

Then, as she was at her lowest, one of her nieces who she had supported and helped a lot called her.

She tried to hide her situation but found it difficult to do so after her niece boasted about gaining true mystical abilities.

At first Angelica was not at all perturbed-

So what if she had magic? Could magic make her beautiful? Could it make her immortal?

Such thoughts calmed Angelica’s heart down but then she was informed by her niece about the witches from the UK.

While Angelica heard of the "true magic" that the overseas witches used, she didn’t really care about it.

She held pride in her craft and believed that while she was unable to fly or shoot fireballs, her ability to create potions and salves was more powerful than any magic could achieve.

Yet that all changed when her niece talked about the witch from the UK who had claimed to have lived for more than a hundred years yet still looked like she was in her twenties.

Her niece had no way to prove it, the best she could do was to start a video call but all that did was give an appearance.

How do they confirm that the witch was really more than a hundred years old?

But Angelica only had to see her nieces complexion to understand the truth-

According to her niece, all she did was offer her body to Richard, the leader of the foreign mystics.

In other words, her niece spent time getting fucked till she passed out and woke up with mystical strength.

Of course, her niece did not notice the slow but steady change in her own complexion.

After all, waking up everyday to see the gradual changes in your appearance was already difficult and that was not even considering the fact that anyone would see their own image and alter it in their minds to look more "appealing".

Her niece did not notice it but Angelica did.

The imperfections in her facial structure that could not be solved by salves, the shape of her eyes and the bone structure that gave her a body that would never match that of a model-

Unknown to her niece, her body had been altered, it had taken a form that could not be changed unless her bones and other structural parts of her body were altered.

With that call, Angelica resolved to meet with the man named Richard.

She had already heard news of something happening to the tenement faction and that other larger mystical factions were on the move.

But Angelica won’t let them get ahead of her.

Based on what she heard from her niece, the man called Richard was likely an extremely lustful individual.

While she may not be as youthful as her nieces, Angelica still had confidence in her own beauty. Moreover, as an independent woman, she always made sure to keep her chastity for the right man-

Preferably a young, handsome, tall, rich and powerful man.

The same type of preference that caused many women in the US to reach their mid thirties without having sex even once and having their marriage prospects drop to an absolute zero.

Yet Angelica had confidence, because she had just turned thirty, moreover, she took proper care of her appearance and while she was inexperienced, she had confidence in her body.

If that weren’t enough, her whole group was filled with young beautiful women.

After all, selling beauty products while not being beautiful yourself was not good marketing.

If she wasn’t enough then her subordinates would fill in the gap!

Of course, she hadn’t told her people about the plan and only told them that they would be meeting an important business partner together.

Her subordinates were also aware of the intensifying pressure of other groups, some even experiencing harassment.

With that, Angelica led them to meet with Richard and upon seeing him they all marveled at his attractiveness.

But in all his beauty, the first thing he said after hearing out their requests was-

"Oh? I don’t mind taking you all in but I want to see your loyalty"

"Yes?"

"Strip"

"..."