292 A Soft Boned Assassin
Once the assassin’s body was brought to the laboratory, Lucius glanced at it and was about to inspect it himself, but then withdrew his hand.
“There are some individuals with traps planted in their bodies in a last-ditch effort to destroy the enemy… and while none were activated when I blasted him with the fireball, it’s still better to check from a safe distance.”
In the past, Lucius had already encountered such methods and was even familiar with them himself. The Great Barrom Clan was not hesitant in using their own servants as disposable weapons if the situation was right after all.
So even if this was a completely different world, Lucius couldn’t put his guard down.
Instead, Lucius motioned for one of the Lost to come forward and gave it orders.
“Check for any traps and then remove any weapons or items that could be stashed away on him.” Lucius said. He took several steps backward to create a berth between him and the body while also ordering others of the Lost to stand guard and shield him.
The Lost he ordered to check the assassin quickly set out to work and after a couple of minutes, nothing exploded at all, and instead, the Lost drew out another dagger along with a few vials on his body.
“Hmmm… give me that.” Lucius snatched the vial for a moment and inspected it closely. He hoped to see any marks or signs to identify the manufacturer or something else recognizable but saw nothing.
Lucius sloshed the liquid around inside of the vial and knew better than to just open it without any precaution.
He ordered one of the Lost to open it and pour some droplets on the dagger and he watched for its effects.
It had no corrosive effect on the dagger, and while there was no obvious effect when it was tried on one of the Lost, it still satisfied Lucius’s curiosity about it.
“Of course, an assassin would be carrying around a poison vial. Shame that I can’t identify who made it through the bottle, but since it was no exploding liquid simply means that I can finally inspect the body in question.”
Lucius temporarily placed the poison vials away for safekeeping and knew that it could at least be put to use for next time or have Kiana retrieve it to be inspected and identified if Lucius didn’t have the time to do it himself.
The assassin’s body was badly burnt when Lucius inspected it up close and the man’s breathing was shallow.
Lucius could have given it the same treatment as he did with June and startled the man awake with a water bucket, but something didn’t seem right to him.
“Even her breathing wasn’t as weak as this.” Lucius said and inspected the rest of the man’s body before he suddenly cursed.
There was a dent in the back of the assassin’s head.
“How did he get this?” Lucius shook his head and immediately called for the people at the re-education center and asked for healers to come under his name.
Once he returned to the laboratory, he glanced back at the assassin’s body.
His legs were gone and it was a poor sight for anyone squeamish but it only reminded Lucius of something that happened during the assassination attempt.
“How he still managed to launch himself like some coiling serpent despite losing his legs… it’s probably related to his gift, isn’t it?”
p、A,nd A-n、o、ve,1 Lucius quickly activated his Nexus and checked on the man’s gift.
Gift Name: Soft Bones
Description: Allows the user to soften their bones according to their will as well as control them to a certain extent
Rank: Rare
Type: Physical
Evolution: Possible
“Tsk. I think I now understand what happened.” Lucius glanced at the assassin’s body and saw that there had been no signs of bleeding, and yet it still ended up injured.
“When the man activated his gift, Soft Bones, he inadvertently still managed to soften his skull which allowed his brain to directly receive the impact when I had attacked him and sent him backwards.”
Lucius was displeased.
It didn’t look wounded on the outside but the brain was still impacted as a result.
“Something like this is difficult to treat, and the current technological advancement of this world does not really increase his chances whatsoever for waking up… but I suppose I could be proved wrong by the healers with their gifts here.”
When Asher’s body had been paralyzed, Healer Josef was able to treat it. Then High Priest Rooks used his gift to heal the sustained injuries on his brain… of course, the situation back then was still different from what the assassin was experiencing now.
But it did give some hope.
For now, Lucius ordered for the assassin’s body to be taken out of the laboratory and brought into one of the spare rooms of the re-education center while he waited for the healers to arrive.
“Young Lord Asher!” Healer Delia arrived and rushed into the room, but was surprised to see that Asher was standing and actually looked well.
She was accompanied by many other healers, who then quickly noticed the assassin lying prone in the corner.
“You are alright, my lord?” Healer Delia had heard of the assassination attempt on Asher and presumed that she was brought to take care of the young lord but saw a different situation altogether.
“You’re not here for me, but for the man right there.” Lucius gestured at the assassin.
“He… he has no legs, my lord.” One of the other healers said and glanced around the room in search for the legs, but didn’t find anything.
“You’re not here to take care of his legs, or to treat his burns.” Lucius said as he eyed another healer who looked prepared to apply salves and creams on the assassin. “On the contrary, this is actually the man who attempted to kill me and I simply need him to wake up for questioning. That’s all. If you think treating these injuries would help him wake up, then do as you please.”
Lucius knew that a lot of healers probably had oaths about helping patients, but he was concerned for one thing alone: getting answers.
“W-we’ll try to do our best then, Young Lord!”