"It seems the people you’re after are more dangerous than I thought"

Richard told Maiko, his gaze shifting between her and the monster.

"I don’t want to be the bringer of bad news but... well, let’s just say Karen’s situation may not be as "hopeful" as we would have wanted it to be"

His words caused a stir in Maiko which caused her appearance to suddenly shift.

Her height that was close to Richard’s own at six foot four had increased.

Maiko grew in height and her clothes changed-

The otaku-like clothing she hid underneath the trench coat turned into a pure white one piece. It was unlike the tight form fighting sundress that Richard pictured a Hachishakusama to wear but instead looked like the type of dress seen in a western nobles ball.

She looked more like a certain zombie in a horror game from a few years back.

Just taller and less bloody.

Still, Richard found it interesting that her dress was very... "realistic".

She didn’t even try to make her dress form fitting to make it look less scary and more sexy.

Instead, it was as if she removed the corset making it so that she had a "boxy" appearance.

Mostly because her breast pushed her dress forward making it harder to see the outline of her waist.

Though, because of this, the attention that should have fallen to her body was instead redirected towards her face.

Fortunately, since she did not follow the classic image that usually accompanies a little boy, Maiko did not have a sunhat on. Instead, her black hair extended towards the ground creating a beautifully horrific image as both her black hair and white dress seem to meld into the soil.

But what was truly mesmerizing was her appearance that had become that of a mature beauty.

While her pale skin and ghastly features did give her an aura that was close to that of a certain ghost that crawls out a well.

Maiko stood upright and did not seem to have such tendencies... though it would still be a shock if she were to suddenly start crawling...

Fortunately for Richard, Maiko simply took in a few deep breaths before slowly walking towards him.

Of course, the moment she bent down to start crawling would have been the end of her as Richard was fully prepared to start shooting.

"What’s the change for?"

Richard asked, if she changed because her emotions went wild then that was that. But if her change was because of something else...

"I... I want to help Sjio-chan..."

Her voice also changed, her previous voice was like that of a woman in her mid twenties but now-

Her voice could only be described as being like that of a... MILF.

It was difficult for Richard to not react as her appearance was basically the quintessential "ghost mommy" image but with a sprinkle of "gothic beauty".

Whether it was because she was Japanese or something else, Maiko’s appearance was less that of a "monster" and more that of a "Horror Beauty". The kind you’d see in shorts and reels.

But Richard didn’t have that much time to enjoy her beauty as he could see the effects his comment on Karen’s safety had on the woman.

While Richard didn’t know how to answer her- mostly because even he didn’t have any leads except for the corpse of the monster he couldn’t really do anything about.

Though it was at this moment that Cindy called to them-

"I got it"

Richard didn’t need to tell Maiko anything as she strode towards Cindy with quick long strides.

It would be Richard’s (and the Goddess’) secret that he had momentarily snuck a few quick glances at the faint outlines Maiko’s steps made on her dress.

[You’re relying too much on you clairvoyance]

The Goddess’ words echoed in his mind.

Indeed, Richard’s demeanor was nothing more than a product of his own ability to somewhat "predict" the future.

While it was nothing more than a "gut feel", after quite some time of constantly testing it out and using it to predict the weather and other small things. Richard’s feel for things became quite accurate.

He can’t see an image of the future but he can vaguely guess things.

It also worked well in guessing people’s intentions. But the accuracy depends on how "assured" someone is when they act.

If the person he tries to predict is guessing or letting fate take its course, Richard’s guess would be off and sometimes impossible to pinpoint.

But if someone is sure of what they were going to do, then Richard had a good chance of properly predicting their action.

Richard had also found other ways to apply this ability he inherited from Merlin but for now, he’s stuck to the few methods he had.

Fortunately, he didn’t really need to do everything on his own. Whenever he gets into a situation where he couldn’t really do anything or had no way to work around it, Cindy could sub in for him.

Much like now, Cindy explained how she was able to traceback the connection that was used on the puppet.

But she also warned that the connection was deliberately left open after it was cut.

In short-

"A trap"

Richard sighed as he paused to think over the matter.

"Let’s go"

Unfortunately, Maiko, who did not have the same ability and amount of information as Richard, was not as calm.

Though Richard didn’t try to force her to relax as he was likely going to act the same way as her if he didn’t have his ability.

"Wait"

"They have Shio-chan!"

"Exactly"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN!"

Maiko suddenly exploded, she grew in size once more as she roared like beast while exuding a powerful presence.

[As expected of a rather famous urban legend] 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

The goddess commented inside Richard while watching along to see how he’d deal with this situation.

Of course, Richard did not disappoint as he didn’t even flinch at the sudden monstrous change and answered her bluntly.

"This is a trap, they have Karen Tamashiro, they know we came to search for her. Now, if you were in their shoes, what would you do?"

"..."

Maiko, despite her raging emotions, was able to calm down. Her evil aura dissipated as she slowly reduced in size.

Not to her original form when Richard first met her but in her second form.

The "White Lady" with long black hair.

"I know you’re worried about her, but trust me, going in guns blazing would cause more problems and may even lead to unfortunate events"

Richard tried to pacify her without using his own experience as a basis but-

"Tust him, he knows full well how bad things can get if you let your emotions run wild during such a situation"

"Shut it Cindy"

"Said the man who rushed in guns blazing after seeing his lover tied to a chair, where’s Andrea now?"

"You-"

Cindy used his past to help pacify Maiko but it not only gave Richard a bad record in the mind of his first customer, it also showed his weakness and inexperience.

Still, Cindy’s words seem to strike Maiko as she gave Richard a special kind of look.

It didn’t help that she had a VERY mature appearance at the moment making the scene look like a mother pacifying her child.

While Richard tried to hide his own failings, after seeing the positive reaction of Maiko, he was able to stop himself from raining hell on Cindy.

"So, how do you plan to deal with this?"

Cindy did not try to push the argument further as she made Richard refocus.

Now that Maiko was willing to cooperate, Richard could only give in and sigh while laying out his plans.

"For now, the goal is to rescue Karen. They’re baiting us so we need to show off our actions... first-"