We left the inn in a hurry. Saying I was concerned was an understatement, and I do believe my current feelings were mutual for Akane, considering the tone of her voice.
See, Togeshi is a... well, rash person. He doesn't think about his decisions before or after he's made them. And, once he decides to do something, he always will. As well, he's quite simple, no offence to him. He doesn't exactly make the most intelligent choices, usually doing only the, for lack of a better word, simplest choice he can make.
So, he knows there's a criminal organization or something is in this very city; what do you think he'll do if he sees anything the least bit suspicious?
I don't exactly believe they are an incompetent organization considering despite us being here for a while, we haven't caught even a glimpse of the assumed criminal organization... I haven't, at least. Hah... I'm starting to think Togeshi noticed something me and Akane didn't. I wouldn't be that surprised, honestly. I also wouldn't be surprised that he didn't tell us anything, considering his self-confidence.
Not long after leaving, we made it to the tavern, mostly due to Akane's skill. I opened the door in a hurry, to be greeted with... Togeshi... and several people beat to a pulp laying around the place.
"Oh, Yuu!" Togeshi, noticing me, turned to us and spoke
"M-me?" One of the injured people who were somehow still awake responded in confusion. The man layed right near the door, showing where the confusion came from.
"No, Yuu! Huh? And Akane too! What a coincidence, I was about to go and see you guys!"
"Yeah... that's cool and all, but--" I was cut off by Akane.
"What the hell happened here?!" Akane interrupted, startling me with the seriousness in her voice.
"Oh, well, these guys attacked me! So, I did the only logical thing."
"Attack them back...?" I questioned further.
"Yep!" His response only made me and Akane sigh.
"Either way, are these guys part of the supposed criminal organization?"
"Oh! So you realized that too, huh? Yeah! Or... I think so! They attacked me when I started asking around, so I've gotta assume so!"
So, I was right, huh... to think he wouldn't even tell us.
I sighed, "Anyway, did they... tell you anything?"
"Tell me what?"
"... Seriously? Anything about their organization!" Akane chimed in, stating the obvious.
"Oh! I see! Well, no. But I did find this trap door that probably leads to something!"
"Well, isn't that incredibly convenient... where, exactly?"
"Uh... behind the bar table where the guy that serves drinks and stuff stands! I opened it up and there were these stairs that lead to a really dark corridor! That's all I could see, at least."
"Great. Then, to get this done and over with, let's just... go in."
"Seriously? No... planning, or anything? That's unlike you." Akane questioned my motives.
"Togeshi was able to easily deal with each and every one of the people here, even when he was outnumbered drastically. I don't believe we're in any serious danger considering that... and, also, I don't think any of us really want to be here right now."
"Yeah! I'd rather be fighting some monster! We actually get rewarded for fighting them... We won't even get any experience fighting people here since we're not evil criminals that kill people."
"True, you have me there... alright, guess we should get a move on."
...
It took a while for us to actually make any progress through the heart of the criminal organization, however, after a while of traversing these dark hallways, we found ourselves in a large room filled to the brim with people. Characters wearing the same dark and shadowy robes.
The room reminded me of a church, almost. However, I knew of no churches in this world that were underground. From what I learned, the churches in this world would usually be higher up, as the 'good' Gods lived in the sky, above everything else. However, the 'evil,' heretical gods called their home below humans and other species. Such, I would conclude this place was built in worship to some evil god... Perhaps rather than criminal organization, this is instead a cult. It would explain the higher number of kidnappings, considering sacrifice plays a large role in several cults I know of.
The walls were ordained with beautiful yet ominous artworks of what seemed to be... some sort of god. I've researched quite a lot of this world's culture and religion, yet this... being, is quite unknown to me. Perhaps, that is for good reason.
In the farthest away place in the room from where we stood was a person adorning a much more lavish outfit than the other people, standing in front of a podium reading from a book. They were perhaps a priest, or maybe not. Who's to say.
I whispered to Akane, "Activate Invisibility on the three of us." I changed who I was speaking to, "And, Togeshi, stay quiet. I'd rather us stay put and gather information for now."
"... Right, will do." Akane activated the skill as Togeshi merely nodded and stayed uncharacteristically silent.
Listening in on what the seeming priest was reading, nothing came off as particularly alarming. However, one thing that caught my attention is the name of this god they seem to worship... 'Tal Darle.' I hadn't heard of them, nor did I desire to learn more.
I handed both Akane and Togeshi a face mask, "Put these on if you don't want to pass out."
Both of them were rightfully confused, but I didn't have the time to explain. Akane's invisibility skill was about to run out, and they would catch on eventually.
Along our travels, I met a certain individual who sold all sorts of things. One of the most prominent being poisons. Of course, I don't plan on killing anybody, but merely incapacitating people was a different story.
After putting on a mask of my own, I opened up a small bottle containing the gas, slowly but surely flowing out throughout the chapel.
Quickly enough, only one person stayed conscious, as the gas had not reached them, the priest. However, with a deafening smack of the book the person was reading from closing, the man spoke a single word, "Dispel." And with that, the odourless gas disappeared without a trace.
"Oh, my," The mysterious man chuckled, taking an ominous mask from the table and placing it upon their face as they continued. "It seems as if the chapel of the Divine One has become infested with revolting rats."