Novel Full Chapter 2087 Old Messes Part 1
Chapter 2087: Chapter 2087 Old Messes Part 1
— Kat —
Kat directed her worry about the fact so many people were eliminated all at once into making food. There was no way to know who it was, nor where she could go to find that information either. It wasn’t like she could just pop down to the bulletin board to find out about who was still in the contest so instead she decided to occupy her time to avoid the worry by making some food.
Technically, dinner was already done. It was six after all and having nothing ready for people to eat would’ve been bad… but Kat really didn’t know what else to do with herself for the moment. Lily was sleeping, Hedera was sleeping and Appoline… well Kat wasn’t too sure what she was doing right now. She would soon find out.
Kat got started on dinner and Appoline walked in not long after. She glanced between the kitchen and the table that Kat had already set with food left out to eat. “Is something wrong with the stuff on the table?” asked Appoline. “I mean, it’s not exactly gourmet but I was kidnapped remember. I also haven’t really eaten much today. Just nabbed a few snacks. Sure people like to say my family is one of the three nobles of the city… but that’s mostly hot air. We don’t eat or live that much better.”
Kat paused what she was doing, and glance down at the meet she was currently applying a marinade to. A marinade she’d just finished making from scratch. Kat winced slightly in embarrassment as she turned towards Appoline. “Well… apparently I like to cook when I’m stressed? Or maybe it’s that my other stress releases aren’t as readily available?”
“Ah, I imagine it’s awkward to have sex in someone else’s home,” said Appoline with a slow nod, as if she understood the feeling perfectly.
“What! No! I’m asexual I wouldn’t be sleeping around in my own house let alone someone else’s,” countered Kat.
“Huh… so like me then, well sort of. Aren’t you a succubus though?” asked Appoline.
“I am but that apparently doesn’t stop us being asexual,” sighed Kat.
“Huh… I mean, I’m mostly this way by choice so it simply seems odd to me that a race known for their sexual prowess could even produce someone with a trait like that?” pondered Appoline.
Kat shrugged, “It’s not that I find the idea gross, or well, I do a little I suppose it’s not exactly a clean activity, but that’s more of an abstract sense. I just don’t really have a libido…” Kat turned back to the meal she was preparing and continued to apply the marinade to avoid looking at Appoline.
“Hmmm… odd considering everything but I suppose stranger things have probably come about. My own lack of sexual interest is mostly down to a poor experience in youth. I decided to ’poison’ my libido in response, killing my sexual desire. It technically worked but it had some other side effects… and the poison I used on myself was always meant to be a temporary one. Something I was testing out before committing to the final version. As I’m sure you can guess based on my wording the second test was far more final then I was attempting to create,”
“Ah,” intoned Kat. “I can’t really imagine what that’s lick. I’ve always been this way so I’m not sure if I’d choose it or not. I don’t really have any desire to change either… but um… I have a few questions about those poisons if you don’t mind?”
“I don’t mind at all. I always enjoy talking about my poisons, and try not to keep them too secret. Though this is mostly with older designs, as while I like talking about them I do still like my secrets yes? So what are your questions?” aske Appoline.
“Well, I guess my first two questions are, what happened to the first one, and what were the issues with the second?” asked Kat.
“Ah, well there’s nothing too crazy with the first. Both potions were designed with relatively cheap ingredients in mind because the goal was always to take one or two doses a week. Suitability was a factor of course, but so was price. The initial potion is somewhat of a success financially in fact.
“You see, instead of killing libido, it makes you temporarily infertile. I obviously didn’t realise this immediately, and almost thought it was a failure but some testing revealed that it works as a way to stop pregnancy during sex. Of course, I say that but it has quite a few side effects for women and that made it annoying for me. For men though? Approximately twenty-four hours of infertility with efficacy dropping if the person taking it is Rank 1 or higher.
“I don’t really enjoy making it but one of my more successful apprentices spends essentially all of their time brewing batches for clients. They’re entirely out of thievery game in fact. Technically they sell other things but they’re one of the few other than myself that can brew the potion,” explained Appoline.
“Huh… do you stay in contact with them still?” asked Kat.
“Yes but only infrequently. If you were angling to find out why they didn’t try to free me… well it’s because sometimes we go months without speaking. I sent them a letter not even two weeks ago so they likely hadn’t realised anything was weird. I try not to overly intrude as remember, they’re not doing anything illegal and haven’t for years.
“Now, to get back to the second attempt. In men it works perfectly. Well, in my opinion it does. You can’t… hmm… stand to attention after taking it. Luckily for the men it was tested on, it only lasts for five days. Pretty much perfect for what I was aiming for. Women on the other hand? It’s… a very strange experience.
“A week of constant cramping interspersed with the occasional extreme reactions as if you’d just downed a potent aphrodisiac before swinging back to pain once again. I genuinely considered slicing out my reproductive organs and regrowing them later during the week I experienced this…” sighed Appoline.
“Wait, why did you test it on yourself first?” asked Kat.
“It’s not like there are too many women ready to sign up for poison testing, even if I try to ensure that it’s nothing lethal or permanent. I even offer to pay for the full treatment to fix them up if they can’t be fixed immediately. Even still, there was only one other woman who got tested… and she was fine! The bitch had no trouble at all.
“I suspect it’s because she was… a good deal older. Biologically anyway, not in years. Her body was further along that road then me. Upside is I don’t have periods anymore though, so that’s something else good I suppose. In the end I don’t necessarily regret taking it but I haven’t offered to sell it because I don’t truthfully know the full extent of the effects…”
Kat nodded as she moved the meat into the oven. She still wasn’t sure what animal it was from but her marinade had been fully applied and left to sit for a while. Probably not as long as it should’ve been… but whatever she was mostly doing this to pass the time. Steel could share it in one of the guardhouses if it was particularly mediocre. “Fair enough. I don’t really have to deal with that sort of thing either, and I know Lily hasn’t had many issues,” *After getting her new body anyway.*
“Right, question about that. Is… what IS Lily, because clearly she’s smarter then a pet but like… I mean I don’t want to just assume…” Appoline trailed off.
“She’s a beastkin, she can transform between that and a humanoid form,” explained Kat.
“I know what beastk-” Appoline cut herself off before shaking her head and nodding. “Oh yes right. How strange. I haven’t really seen any around. The city is elves, humans and dwarves really,”
*Yeah now that I think about it… no beastkin is one thing but why aren’t there any Fae here? Are they somewhere else on the island or is it that not many signed up to participate? Did I see any at the other village? I know there were beastkin there, obviously.*
Kat shrugged and moved onto the vegetables she’d grabbed and washed earlier. Some were half prepared, as they were needed for the marinade but others were still dripping from the water earlier. She got started on slicing them up as she turned to Appoline and asked, “So is there any other interesting stories you can tell me about your potions? Poisons? Both? Either is fine.” Kat had decided a distraction would be quite nice as at the moment.
Appoline had plenty of experience with people who simply wanted to hear of her success to steal her secrets, or those who didn’t really care. Kat clearly did. Oh she wasn’t completely devoted… but she had a genuine interest that put a smile on Appoline’s face. “Well, I have just so many. You’ll have to narrow it down. Though I guess a lot of them boil down to ’I made a poison but it failed in some way’ considering what I specialise in…”