Inside the building, Richard was immediately greeted by a blonde woman holding a bloody meat cleaver.

While he would have loved to see her cutting some beef or steak to cook, Richard was unfortunately entering the building of a man who was hunting down the people who kidnapped his daughter.

"Oh my? Is this the descendant of Merlin? Has Reta been found?"

*CHOP*

*Muffled scream*

Richard ignored the poor lad who was bound on the table as he answered the woman.

"I’m sorry ma’am but we’re here to confirm a few things first"

Disappointed, the blonde lady let out a sigh as she lifted the cleaver once more.

The muffled sounds increased in intensity but it failed to do anything as the woman did not seem to be bothered nor have an ounce of care for the sounds as she swung the cleaver down once more.

"I see... unfortunately, the little piggy right here won’t say a word"

"Piggy?"

Richard looked at the young man desperately begging for reprieve.

Unfortunately for the young man, Richard had no mercy for people like him.

Some lawmakers may try to call him innocent behind their bullet proof walls and some idiots with messiah complexes may forgive them but Richard?

He knew the pain of being unable to do something while your loved ones are taken advantage of-

Though those feelings had long vanished, the memory of his reaction to them didn’t.

Moreover, while the experience had become nothing more than a "recorded memory", his own emotions were still there.

He can’t feel the emotions of hate and rage for Andrea but maybe because of that lack of reaction, all the anger and madness that should have been directed towards his former lover were being directed towards the countless unknown women who were made to suffer by the young man on the table.

"Think twice next time you decide to do let your dick think for you... if you ever get a next time"

To his words, CIndy replied saying-

"It should be next life"

"MMMMMFFFFHHH!!"

Another cut, some would wonder how the young man was still alive but the blonde woman was not a normal person.

As someone from the mystical world-

Richard watched as the flesh and bones of the young man slowly reconnected themselves.

A magical procedure that would make any military desperately fork out as much cash as they could.

Such a technique was now being used to make the young criminal suffer endlessly.

"You’d think authors would use this trope more"

Richard said as he watched the blonde woman use healing magic in the "wrong way".

"That’s child’s play, the Greeks had a method that forced humans to burn alive for years. Proper healing magic would ease suffering but the Greeks made healing excruciating by enhancing the senses to the point of injury."

Arthur explained while rummaging through the drawers.

"Here"

After rummaging for a while, he took out a pile of documents.

"What’s this?"

"Ledgers, reports and documentation of all the women who were kidnapped by the witches"

Richard scanned the files while Arthur started to prepare some tea.

"How’d you get your hands on this?"

Arthur asked after going through the files, they did show enough "proof" of the actions done by the witches but that was not enough.

Documents could be faked and so he had to know the source of the documents.

"Took a bit of effort but taking down a witch is easy"

Arthur answered casually as if what he said was something that was all too common.

"You already hunted down a witch? If you are that capable, why ask us?"

"I could slowly wear down the witches but that could also put Arthuretta in danger"

Richard nodded his head in understanding, the things people would do when they were on the brink of death were quite interesting to think about.

Whether it was the thoughts of a single individual or the actions of a whole nation. When you face an existential crisis, you are more than likely going to choose the action that would get you through suffering no matter how deranged it would be.

Cannibalism may be seen by people as the acts of a deranged cult or some cannibalistic tribes, but when facing imminent death... survival of the fittest starts and your companion who doesn’t contribute much to survival becomes less of a friend and more of a burden.

The least they could do is help you survive a few more days...

People would do anything if it meant survival and if the witches find their companions being taken down one by one. There is a high chance that they would use Arthuretta if they find out that Arthur was the one targeting them.

"Why am I always getting involved in kidnappings?"

Richard lamented, first it was Andrea, then it was Karen- now it’s another kidnapping.

"Have the witches gone to Japan?"

Arthur asked upon hearing Richard’s words but he shook his head.

’I can’t tell him that both of those missions failed...’

The rescue mission where Andrea got killed, the second where Karen had already been transported out of Japan before he could even get a lead.

Now, Richard was facing another kidnapping incident.

[You were the one who accepted it]

’I was focused on the witch and England part... the kidnapping thing was basically written of as "bad actions" but that’s beyond the point! Even if I didn’t accept this task, the fact is- this is my third kidnapping incident since I entered the mystical world!’

[When organizations work in the shadows, matters always revolve around disappearances. Few people would actively fight since it would cause a commotion. The people who would ask for your help would almost always have a reason to take others down]

Nyx was right, as funny as it was to think that Richard’s new life in the mystical world revolved around rescuing kidnapped individuals- this correlation was unfortunately, an expected result of the mystical world’s situation.

It functions like an underworld, things happen outside the "regular world".

Moreover, the true currency of the mystical world was power- and the way to harness this power is through souls, belief and will.

In other words- people.

Even if Richard tried to turn away, the fact of the matter was that the mystical world is rife with human trafficking.

From mystics who need research materials, fuel or even some that were just psychotic.

Humans were traded like cattle in the mystical world and so, kidnappings were common. Like hunting deer, mystics would find ways to get the things they need so long as it does not catch the public’s attention.

The typical, "leave them be" mindset, so long as the witches aren’t kidnapping 10% of the populaton, everything was fine.

In fact, the witches were quite weak in their movements as their victims were fewer than those that were actually being trafficked all over the world.

The victims of an actual gang were greater in number compared to the witches.

But that didn’t mean they weren’t doing anything wrong.

*CHOP*

But that also didn’t mean they were in the right either.

Still, their actions were skirting the line and Richard worked on that point.

While official organizations, the governments and other mystical forces would ignore such issues. Richard was going to take them head on.

"Do you have a location or is that part of the request?"

"Of course, it’s part of the request"

*CHOP*

Richard nodded his head and stood up, "Let’s go- we could probably track them down with this document"

Arthur showed a confused expression, while he appreciates Richard’s eagerness to move there was a small problem-

"It doesn’t have any addresses or clues though?"

The document simply proved the actions of the witches but it didn’t have any addresses or any way to identify where the victims were sent.

They had nowhere to start and Arthur was planning to wait for the young criminal getting chopped up to talk but-

"Is that a problem?"

Richard asked Arthur who, for a moment, did not understand what he meant.

But the old man’s eyes suddenly opened wide in shock and awe as he realized what the young Richard was talking about.

"I see... indeed, as expected of Merlin’s descendant"

Arthur said while nodding his head, his expression showing relief as if all his problems were solved.

[You found them?]

’Kinda...’