The hallways in this inn were all dark and empty, though I could tell that other people were lurking around in here.
Entering the third room to the left, I enter, finding a small room, fitted with a simple bed and desk. Not too shabby considering how suspicious everything here looks.
Closing the door behind me, I make sure to lock it. Though it probably wouldn't do much if someone tried to bust in, it's more so just for my peace of mind. The room is near pitch black, but no one here really needs that much light to see. Sitting at the desk I bring out some more jerky because apparently, that's all I have.
"What are we doing here?" Lazari asks.
"No clue, but we'll find out in a bit,"
She seems to nod knowingly to my response. Though seriously, I have no clue as to what I'm doing here.
After sitting around in the pitch black room for an hour or so, a knock resounds. Opening the door, I'm greeted by a short fellow also dressed in black. She seems nervous, more so when she looks into the dark room behind me.
"I-I'm very s-sorry for inter-interrupting, but it's time for th-the meeting,"
She speaks in a shaky tone, I can't be that scary? No way.
Nonetheless, I nod and she begins to lead the way as I follow her. We move down the hallway, back into the reception area then into the dining room. Arriving, I notice a blueprint of some sort laid out on a table with seven other robed individuals surrounding it. Noticing my arrival, Laffer calls me out, ushering me toward the table.
"Oh, don't mind her Jeff, Shanny's a bit shy,"
It's all very dark in here, with only small candles placed around the table for the only source of light.
"So who's this fella?"
Lacer answers this question, stating me as additional help that conveniently arrived. After sizing me and Lazari, he nods before turning his attention back to the table. From what I can infer, it seems dark arts cultists tend to travel around a lot, but that makes sense considering they are the most wanted criminals there are.
Wait, actually, Heretics are the most wanted, so I guess they would be the second most wanted then.
*Clap!* *Clap!*
"Alright! Since we're all here, let's start the meeting,"
…
It has been a few days since promising to follow Jeffrey and Lazari found herself in the lair of some evil cultists. But again, she was saved by an 'evil' cultist whilst 'just' knights slaughtered her village. So who was 'evil' then?
It was just a matter of perspective, and as a demon, the knights were the 'evil' ones.
If anything, Lazari felt that she fitted more with this group of people than anyone else. And entering this lair only confirmed her suspicions that Jeffrey was a cultist.
Apparently, listening to the plan, they were going to try to plunge the city into chaos by slaughtering the city lord and all authoritative figures. Doing this would cause the city to fall into a state of upheaval where they could recruit more members whilst also extracting large quantities of life essence.
At first, she felt uneasy that they could talk about killing so many people like slaughtering pigs. But Lazari, ever since her childhood, had always felt detached from other human beings. Coupled with the fact that she wasn't even human, made her mind gravitate towards the thought that such an action was splendid. A simple matter of course.
Lazari's psyche had already shifted. It was inevitable that she would think this way. Her eyes flashed an eerie red, she looked forward to the bloodbath tomorrow night.
…
"And that's when you'll come in alright?" Finishing up the plan, Lacer turns toward me.
My role in this mission was to back them up when the heavy hitters start coming out, effectively launching a surprise attack on them.
Should I really be doing this? Well, I'm not too sure, but this sounds like an adventure. Remembering a story my father told me, he had once tracked down and busted a criminal organisation by killing their leaders and having their grunts scatter. If I think of it like that, then this isn't that different, just on a bigger scale. Plus, if these so called 'Knights' were as strong as the one I fought before, then this would be well worth the experience.
Therefore, I assent with the plan.
"Great! Oh, Jeff, does the girl need another set of clothes? I'm pretty sure that we got some spares somewhere," Laffer said, looking at Lazari's blood stained clothes.
"Hmm, yeah, I was meaning to address that, so that would help,"
"Okay, just wait in your room, and don't leave either. The plan is tomorrow, so just stay in the inn,"
Having to stay in the inn for a whole day is quite inconvenient as I'd like to walk around the city, but other than that, I'm quite alright with this proposition.
As I'm about to walk back to my room, someone calls out to me.
Turning around, I see two robed cultists sitting at a dining table, on it a deck of cards, in a poker layout. Approaching them, one of them asks,
"Wanna play?"
"Not like there's anything better to do," So I joined them.
It seems in this game they were wagering stacks of copper coins.
Putting two copper coins on the table, which raises eyebrows on the other two. But after a few rounds, they start to feel like crying.
"Hey man, you sure you ain't cheating?"
"I mean, I'm not cheating, but you're just bad,"
I mean seriously, did these guys even know how to play poker? Well, yeah, they knew how to deal hands and all that jazz, but when it came to the betting they were absolute garbage. They should start from learning how to check, in the rounds I played they seemed incredulous when I didn't make stupid betting decisions with them.
I'm only basic at poker myself, but at least I know when to not bet.
"The way you play is just putting everything to chance,"
"Is poker not a game of chance?" Snapping out of his sullen mood, he asks inquiringly.
"No, didn't you see how I clapped you?"
Well, let's leave it at that, leaving with a pouch full of coins, I immediately meet with Laffer, who's holding a bundle of clothes, more specifically robes. What's wrong with these people and robes?
Additionally on top of the robes is a coin of some sort, made of a pure black material, it emanates a dark aura. Branded onto the coin seems to be a "t" or more accurately a cross with three overlapping circles behind it.
"You prolly don't have one, so here ya go. You can thank me later,"
This most likely served as an identification, similar to the guard ranks, though this looked much more expensive and valuable than the tokens.
"Ah, now that your free, why don't ya talk about yourself, like where'd ya come from." As I'm about to leave, Laffer calls out, "Though if you want ta' you don't have to."
I have no reason to decline, and I notice how everyone present seems to perk up at this, Lazari and even Lily included.
Dumb Krow.