CH41: Two Sides Of The Same Coin

***

"Finally done."

I pushed back the seat and stood up from the desk and stretched my body.

It took more than 40 hours but I was finally done creating my weapon for my promotion hit.

The list of things I requested from Navia was quite small.

I only asked for a well-equipped Herbology lab, a popular drug, a few lab rats and the seed of a flower that grew close to Pryford, my hometown in this world.

I know what's on your mind. You're probably thinking the flower or the seeds are some sort of poisonous substance.

Well, you're wrong.

These seeds are actually quite edible.

As for what I was doing with them, I'll tell you later. It will make more sense then... I think.

Anyway, five days have passed since Navia's bet with her colleague began. I waited this long because tonight was the perfect opportunity to take the target out.

I walked to the bath in the Lab and washed up before I left the place with my creation in hand.

I came out at another wing of the Charwell mall from where the ThornyRose was located.

Navia managed to get the Lab of a Senior Herbalist for my use at no cost.

I certainly felt the significance of having a Broker... or should I say having Navia as my Broker.

I glanced at the yellow-orange glow of dusk before walking away from the mall in my 'Alex Fury' skin without saying goodbye to her.

I arrived at a high-end restaurant hotel where my target would be holding a party to celebrate the success of his creation.

My target's name was Robert Bailey.

He was a white-skinned man in his forties. He stood just below average height and had a prominent beer belly.

Robert was a Journeyman Alchemist. And just until about five years ago, he was an unknown member of the Landrose City's Alchemic community.

This was until he accidentally stumbled on his greatest creation.

An all-purpose cure for poisons Terror-rank and below.

This meant his cure/antidote could handle all poison related ailments as long as the poison doesn't come from beast over the Terror-rank.

(P.S: Poisons of above Terror-rank are noticeable and are difficult to use for assassinations and the likes. Plus, they had special characteristics which made them significantly different from lower-ranked poisons.)

His antidote was a big hit in Landrose City and soon the greater Bayveth republic. The cure might not cost much but there was a high demand for the all-purpose antidote, so Robert made a lot of money.

He even founded an Alchemy company with his antidote as the central attention. Within five years, he amassed a net worth that made him a multimillionaire.

Even Lord-rankers couldn't claim to be worth more than that.

Unfortunately, Robert was too high profile. He used the influence of his product on the Bayveth Hunter community to gain power. Power which he then used to encroach on the benefits and territory of many people.

He made a lot of enemies, including the entire Herbology community.

The guy had the gull to say that the world of Arun has no need for Herbalists. He claimed Alchemy was superior to Herbology and so there was no need for the latter to continue existing.

Well, I was very eager to show him his folly... fatally at that.

I don't know who amongst his enemies put a contract on him, nor do I particularly care, but they requested that he be killed, preferably with a Terror-grade and below poison that his antidote was supposed to be an all-purpose cure for.

A poetic contract if there ever was one.

This request stumped many of the Assassins in the House of Death.

Straight up killing Robert wasn't particularly difficult for the seasoned assassins of the organisation. But finding a poison immune to the all-purpose antidote was truly difficult.

This accidental discovery of Robert's, truly deserved its reputation.

However, that ends today.

I entered the hotel through the service entrance, then made my way to the locker room where I changed into the Hotel staff's uniform.

The hotel was understaffed for this party so they outsourced to make up the number.

I came highly recommended by a resource company after spending a bit of money to encourage the company manager to see things my way.

The uniform was important as it would allow me to get close to the target without attracting attention.

Human senses pick up a lot of information. Our brains evolved to process this large amounts of information quickly. This unfortunately involves ignoring all of said information as background information with no consequence.

An example of this was the way normal people view uniforms.

Once a normal person sees a uniform, we ignore every detail about the person in the uniform and instead see the institution that uniform represents.

If you see someone in a police uniform, you'll remember seeing a police officer, but chances are that you won't remember what the officer actually looks like, or even their name which is boldly written on their chest.

This was the effect I'm counting on.

I can't enter the party with my Loki mask, however, I had the next best thing. While in the hotel staff uniform, no one would pay attention to me. Instead, their attention would be on the institution I represent while wearing it, which is the Hotel's staff.

The sky darkened and the party began.

I managed to squeeze into the group of servers who would serve the bigwigs at the party, including the target, Robert Bailey.

Robert kicked off the party by welcoming his guests and saying some few words.

The summary of everything he said was that the company was doing well and he hoped the invited guest would invest in a big project the company was working on. He asked the guest to wait till later in the evening when he would make the big announcement on what the project was.

I spent a lot of time delivering food to the party's bigwigs. I made myself known to the people there.

Another thing about the human brain is that we can't truly be random. Our brain seeks out what is familiar in a sea of unknowns.

Using this knowledge, I ingratiated myself to the powerful group at the party, which of course included the target.

They thought they called for me randomly or coincidentally. They didn't realise that I was slowly spinning a web around them that would allow me to control their actions at a needed moment.

An hour into the party, Robert was ready to make the announcement. He looked around at all the servers, before calling for me.

He picked the glass cup I was carrying. He tapped it to get the party guest's attention.

Once everyone turned to him, he made the big announcement.

The all-purpose antidote and the company would spread into the market of the two neighbouring countries. His company would be making shares available in order to fund this big expansion project.

The announcement seemed very welcomed by the guests as they all clapped happily.

Robert then proposed a toast, after which he gulp down the drink he got from me.

Seeing this, I quickly but calmly made my way to the toilet.

I walked into a stall where I had previously place an 'out of order' sign on the door. There was a sac behind the door.

I removed the red waistcoat which identified me as a Hotel staff and wore it inside-out. What I now had on was a black waistcoat on a white shirt.

I opened the sac and took out a black jacket and tie which I wore to complete my suit.

I walked out of the toilet and joined the party, now as a 'guest'. I walked slowly towards the door as I waited for the commotion to begin.

I just reached the door when the expected commotion came.

Someone noticed spots appearing on Robert's face and exclaimed. I picked up the pace and walked out as if I didn't hear the shout.

I knew what was going to happen next.

Robert's whole body would turn red as his temperature swelled. He would feel nauseous and vomit his stomach contents.

He and everyone else would wrongly diagnose his condition as poisoning from the sap of a plant called the Midnight Fern.

Symptoms similar to those displayed by Robert are seen in victims who are poisoned with the sap from a Midnight Fern at Threat class.

Robert will confidently take his all-purpose antidote.

However, instead of saving him, this would be what would kill him.

Since I already knew his fate was sealed, I didn't wait to see the result. I immediately left the hotel before someone from the security team locked down the hotel.

Half an hour later, I arrived at the ThornyRose where Navia was waiting for me.

It was around 10pm in the night but she waited for me with warm food to eat. I didn't eat at the party so I was particularly hungry.

She hugged me as soon as I walked through the shop's door in my Leo Xander form.

"I just received confirmation. Robert Bailey is dead. They believe someone poisoned him with the sap of a Threat-class Midnight fern. But for some reason, the all-purpose antidote didn't work. The guest at the party are doubting the effects of the antidote after it failed to save its creator. I'm sure the company's share will crash tomorrow."

Navia led me to the food she prepared.

She waited till I finished eating, before she couldn't hold it anymore.

"How did you do it? I know for a fact you didn't use a Midnight fern. What you used was a Dreamflower seed. I thought you said the seeds weren't poisonous."

"Dreamflower seeds aren't poisonous. In fact, it's the opposite. It's quite nutritious. People usually feed it to toddlers to boost their growth."

"Then, how did you poison the target? Did you use something else?"

"No. The Dreamflower seeds were the only thing I used."

I went on to explain everything to her.

Dreamflower seeds are nutritious supplements on their own. However, they metabolise into toxins in the stomach when consumed with alcohol.

Actually, to call the metabolised substance a toxin is a stretch. It's more like an allergen that the body misidentifies as a toxin and releases antibodies to fight.

It's this release of antibodies which caused the symptoms Roberts displayed. Everything from the swelling on the skin as well as the inflammation of the digestive and respiratory pathways.

Robert's all-purpose antidote, according to the findings of my tests, works by supplying antibodies with potent amount of mana to improve their capability to fight off any toxins in the body.

P.S: Robert's All-purpose antidote was the drug I spent most of the 40-hours time testing in the lab. It actually didn't take me more than an hour to extract the needed compound from the Dreamflower seeds which I introduced into Robert's drink.

Now, let's say the metabolised substance from the Dreamflower seeds and alcohol caused Robert's body to release Antibodies which end up fighting a non-existent enemy. This then triggered poison-like symptoms like the various inflammations mentioned before since the antibodies would end up attacking healthy cells of the body when they can't find the supposed toxin.

What do you think would happen if you then super-charge those anti-bodies?

Simple, you supercharge the antibodies' attack on the healthy cells of the body.

So, in effect, Robert wasn't killed by a toxin, but rather the antibodies of his own body which cause the blockage of his respiratory and circulatory systems.

In other words, he died from a cocktail of symptoms, chief amongst which were lack of oxygen and some other substances that should've been transported by blood to vital organs of the body.

Simply put, his body killed itself.

"I told you, medicine and poison are two sides of the same coin. This is an example of how a medicinal supplement can be used as a poison to kill!"

As if acknowledging my comment, I saw some notifications from my Interface.

[Notice: Lord Jormungandr is impressed by your use of 'poison'.]

[Notice: You have passed Lord Jormungandr's requirement.]

[Blessing of Lord Jormungandr.]

-Poison Master

-World Serpent

Remark: Lord Jormungandr is the progenitor of poisons. He requires all those he blesses to have a basic understanding of poisons.

Unlock Condition: Complete 1 mission using poison.

[Notice: Condition met. Mission completed with poison.]

[Notice: Poison Master and World Serpent unlocked.]

I had to pause my investigation of the notifications I received as Navia asked me a question.

"What about your exposure at the party? Surely, people saw you give the target the drink."

"People would only remember he got the drink from a Hotel staff. They won't remember my face. At most, they'll remember that I'm black-skinned and above average in height."

"Ok." Navia put down her worry.

My fair lady's words caused me to think back to the party.

It wasn't by coincidence that Robert called to take a drink from me.

I had served him two times prior at the event. And at both times, I always had one drink left on my serving tray.

This, along with other subtle things I did, planted a cue in his mind. So, when he wanted to draw the attention of the crowd, and he saw me with only one drink on my tray, he called me over.

Three times is a charm he must've thought.

"It's already late. Why don't you stay here tonight?"

"Why don't you just say you want it?" I smiled.

"I don't know what you mean. I was only thinking of rewarding you for letting me win my bet. If you don't want it, you're free to leave."

"Of course, I want it."

I carried her into the room for some night-time celebration.

There were still some notifications in my Interface but I decided to check them later.

Just before I slept off, I wondered if they found the letter I slipped into the target's pocket when he took the drink from me.

It was something I'd have to find out about the next day.

(To be continued...)

AUTHOR'S RAMBLING

I got the idea for this kill when I was reading about allergies and how they worked. This then led me into Autoimmune diseases.

The kill was basically a combination of both research.

Word of Advice, it's important to know about your allergy if you have any and NEVER take drugs with any form of alcohol, there's a strong chance of things going wrong.

Anyway, see you in the next KILL. Stay safe 😈

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