Swamped

"Still don't see why this festival is such a big deal," one of the voices mutters.

"Gods are a big deal to some people," says the other. "Not you and me, maybe, but that doesn't matter so much when the people who do give a damn about 'em have a pile of money to pay you."

"I guess," says the first. "Still seems sketchy to me. I mean, more than our usual work. I mean, what even is this stuff? And we're just gonna burn it?"

Burn it?

"We'll be fine if we have our masks on. They told us that a hundred times."

"Maybe we will. But, like, this is different from usual. Sure, we're in a rough business. But it's only rough for a few people who are already tangled up in this. What's this gonna do to the townspeople, if it's so bad we need masks? I mean, it already smells awful. Worse than the fish."

Some kind of foul-smelling substance, that burns and produces a gas. So one of your guesses was right. They must be keeping it here so the stench of the fish keeps it from being noticed.

And maybe this isn't the only place. There's a lot of fish shops in this town, after all.

"You know by now that it's no use asking questions in our line of work. If you really gotta, though, just hold tight. The Lady's due here in fifteen minutes to check in."

You have a hunch as to who this Lady is. Though if you want to confirm that, apparently you just have to wait.

You think you've heard enough for now, so you head back to Black and tell him what you overheard.

"That's all well and good, but it doesn't help Sunflower, does it?"

"It could if the Lady on her way here is the one who did this to him. She left the bell on him, so she probably didn't intend permanent harm. We might be able to convince her to stop the spell."

Black folds his arms.

"I don't like that idea."

You think a little harder, then.

"It might go better if we could get in there, deal with the underlings, and set some kind of trap for her when she arrives." You think a moment longer and sigh. "But we don't have a lot of time to do that in, do we."

"Especially since we can't just leave Sunflower out here on his own. It'd take two or three minutes just to carry him."

So that means you either need a way to pull off the plan fast, or try a different one.