The City Richard had lived for the majority of his life was peaceful, even when it had one of the biggest tech companies headquarters, the place was less chaotic than New York or even LA.

Before, Richard didn’t mind it, he just saw it as "normal".

There was nothing to see here- is what he would think whenever something happens but especially whenever nothing happens.

Yet now, he wore a face that was very far from his own.

He disguised himself as an asian man, a "tourist" passing by on his way to other- more famous cities.

But as Richard sat in the quiet coffee shop on the same spot he used to love overlooking the streets below-

<Nostalgia? Or is it something else?>

Across from him, the Goddess who disguised herself as an asian lady asked while taking a sip of her mocha latte.

"It seems you have a very American taste"

<Isn’t it more confusing to see a Chinese man having a cup of italian espresso?>

"Touche"

Richard did not argue with the Goddess, still, as weird as their tastes were for the image they had. Tourists were known for being "weird" and succumbing to pressure.

There’s a reason the word "tourist trap" has become famous in recent years.

Locals would know the lay of the land and actual cultures while tourists would be made to do shit that even locals would resist doing.

<Was it a good idea to have Ragnar be the bait? Don’t worry about talking, the space around is safe. It’s the least I can do before all hell breaks loose>

The goddess assured Richard but it wasn’t as if he would hesitate to speak even if she didn’t say anything.

Instead, Richard felt a sense of relative safety because the goddess took on a human form.

If she had not taken such a form and remained as nothing more than a whisper in his mind, then he would start to worry.

Richard already had a bad feeling about this whole plan of his but at the same time, he felt a desperate need to act.

"I know it’s useless to ask, but... are the rings with Andrea?"

Richard asked, the rings he talked about were the ones he always kept in his desk. Despite not getting a proper chance to propose, the rings were still there.

He tried to toss them away but he always gave himself a reason to not push through with disposal.

In the end, the two rings were left in his desk, when he was kicked out, he didn’t even bother to take them but after things settled down- after he was able to start thinking, the rings suddenly got a bit more... important.

<The answers you want could only be found, not told. Also, I’d rather not spoil the fun for Cindy>

"Tsk"

Richard already knew that Cindy was only joining in for the show, she probably had more plans in store but at least, compared to Andrea, the young bitchy witch was still someone he could trust. At least, more than the woman who destroyed everything he built.

"Fine, how about Andrea’s location?"

<Don’t you already know the answer?>

"Haa~"

Richard let out a weak sigh, he already knew where Andrea was.

Robert was busy chasing after Ragnar who disguised himself as Damien Dixon and was making a mess out of things.

Cindy already informed him of the movements made by the FBI but she did warn him that the headquarters of his company had a barrier.

It was not powerful enough to prevent any mystical practitioner from entering or targeting it but it was able to detect the entry of any mystical individual.

How Cindy learned of it was something Richard could only assume was her "experience". But her information further cemented the idea Richard had in his mind.

<You’ve gotten proficient in magic, sneaking in would be easy for you. But what comes next... your on your own>

She said the same thing again, reminding Richard of the fact that he wouldn’t get any help for what he was about to do.

"Well, I need to take care of this once and for all..."

Magic worked on will, as such, it was common for those who practice the mystical arts to have twisted minds.

After all, you had to go through quite a lot of gruesome things just to enter the world of mystics.

Compared to them, all Richard had to do was calm his own mind. But after all that he experienced, it would be a lie if he said that he was calm.

People could be triggered by even the smallest things, and when you bottle up something for long enough, the lightest poke could trigger an explosion or what many would call a "crash out".

Relationships were maintained through tolerance, even love had times when it was turned to hate but people maintained an environment through tolerance and bottling things up.

When something bad happens, when a person finally "crashes out", even the small things like "forgetting to put the toilet seat down" or "forgetting to buy milk" would suddenly become a criminal offense.

The reason why Ragnar, the Goddess, Cindy and Hana did not try to stop Richard was for that very reason.

He was like a powder keg sitting next to an open fire.

If he didn’t empty out his grievances, his journey through the mystical world would likely be cut short, and it could happen at any moment.

The Goddess obviously had an ulterior motive, that was obvious enough but she didn’t try to hide it.

If she was trying to then she was the most idiotic Goddess in the world!

Even Cindy and Hana were guilty of having unknown ulterior motives. But they weren’t trying to hide it.

Maybe it was because they were all mystics?

Stability of one’s mind was key to ensuring you don’t self-destruct.

Right now, Richard was on his quest to fulfill the stability of his.

Whether he comes out broken but stable or reborn and stable... that was something he can’t really predict.

All he knew was that he had to take action now, before things escalated any further- before things started to get even more troubling.

"I’m going"

Richard quickly downed his coffee before standing up. His sudden movement did not catch anyone’s attention as he walked past people like a shadow.

The goddess only smiled as she too stood up before vanishing right then and there.

A waitress walked past the table and paused, she didn’t see the goddess vanish into thin air right before her or Richard walking past her with eyes that could kill.

Instead, she found a curious table that she thought had been empty for more than an hour now suddenly has two empty cups.

The cups were still wet with the remnants of the drinks, the espresso cup was empty with only a thin light brown layer of coffee residue left while the other cup for what she could assume was some kind of latte was left there half empty.

"Hm? Were there customers sitting here?"

The cups were still warm, which meant that they had just been recently left but she swore that there was nobody seated there moments before?

Such a moment would have become an "urban legend" , a workplace "ghost story" that she would share and that the workers would talk about during break.

But the waitress didn’t seem to be bothered.

"I should take a break, I’ve been overworked the past couple of days, maybe I hallucinated an empty table"

She muttered to herself while cleaning up the table, the weird feeling she got was erased from her mind. Not a single other employee would hear about it, after all, it was just in her head right?