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Chapter 37: The Great Rescue Operation I

Sensing something amiss, there was a brief commotion beyond the door, and soon someone tried to enter. Fortunately, the children had locked the door, but from the rescue team's perspective, it was only a matter of time before it opened. Exchanging glances with Garren and Peron, the team leader immediately changed the plan. Following his orders, the operatives rushed into the room without hesitation, simultaneously moving Janice and Raymond behind them.

Crash!

That was when the kidnappers, wielding swords, kicked the door open and burst in.

"Intruders!"

"The children are trying to escape!"

A melee erupted.

The rescue team tried to get the children out of the building, while the kidnappers tried to stop them. Some of the kidnappers inside rushed outside to engage the rescue team waiting to receive the children. For mere grave robbers, their weapons and combat strength were far too formidable. But the biggest problem was that their numbers were far greater than the investigative team had anticipated.

The hideout appeared to be nothing more than an ordinary two-story house. But over a hundred kidnappers had poured out from within. There were clearly hidden spaces.

The team leader fired a flare into the sky, signaling for reinforcements. Seeing this, the kidnappers' attacks grew even more ferocious.

Though protected by the rescue team, Janice and Raymond were still trapped inside, unable to escape due to the kidnappers' interference. They stood pale-faced, not knowing what to do.

And in the midst of it—

"Daddy!"

A kidnapper's blade sliced Garren's arm. Janice called out to him, her face ashen. Unable to bear the stalemate, Garren had entered the room himself to engage the kidnappers. Because their first meeting had been unpleasant, Janice had spent over a year bickering with Garren over whether to acknowledge him as her father. But perhaps she'd grown accustomed to the fact. In this crisis, she'd called him "Daddy" without thinking.

Janice had apparently come to accept Garren as her father—but she didn't notice her own change. Garren's injury was too serious. Even through his black clothing, the spreading blood was all too visible. Watching the droplets fall to the floor, Janice was nearly in a panic.

"It's okay, Janice. The Duke will be fine."

Raymond tried to comfort Janice, as if brainwashing himself. The children clutched each other's hands like lifelines.

Meanwhile, the wounded Garren stepped back, and another operative filled his place. Garren glanced back and nodded at Janice and Raymond as if to say he was fine—but that didn't necessarily mean he truly was.

When Raymond had seen Garren and Peron's faces, he'd thought they'd soon be back in their families' arms. But the endless battle and the injuries to their rescuers made him realize the situation wasn't as optimistic as he'd hoped. Raymond bit his lip anxiously. That was when he remembered the stink bombs and smoke bombs in his bag.

...Could they be of some help?

Raymond had mostly used those items for pranks and evading bodyguards, but they were also used in actual combat. That was why the Grand Duchess always got angry and contacted his uncles and cousins in the frontier, demanding to know what they'd given him. Raymond thought the items in his bag might help Garren.

But his bag was right next to the bed—where the rescue team and kidnappers were currently fighting. So he tried to ask Janice if she happened to have her bag with her. Just moments ago, Janice had brought her bag to hang her necklace on Raymond's window. And if Raymond remembered correctly, Janice's bag still contained the smoke bombs, stink bombs, and glass marbles he'd given her on the day they were kidnapped.

"Ja—ah!"

But Janice didn't seem to hear him. She was staring at Garren, who was receiving help to stop the bleeding from his wounded arm, looking as if she might collapse any moment. So Raymond twisted his body and checked Janice's waist.

"..."

The bag was gone.

Janice took her necklace out of the bag... and then what?

Raymond thought for a moment. Then he remembered—Janice's bag wasn't far from his own. His face twisted in frustration.

He needed a bag—his or Janice's, it didn't matter. One that contained the smoke bombs and other items. But the bags were far away, and his body was too weak to run and retrieve them. And asking Janice seemed impossible—she was too frightened to even reach the bags safely, let alone bring them back.

Everyone on the rescue team looked busy, and more than anything, Raymond feared that if he told them about the smoke bombs, the kidnappers might overhear and grab the bags first, using the contents against them. So he made up his mind—he'd move himself.

Though he could barely stand and felt like vomiting, he didn't want to wait like a useless person for someone to save him. Having been safely protected near the window, Raymond suddenly darted forward.

Being right beside him, Janice noticed his sudden movement before anyone else, and startled, she followed him instinctively to protect him.

It was the kidnappers who spotted them first.

"Grab them!"

The tense standoff between the kidnappers and the rescue team collapsed in an instant. The kidnappers moved toward the children, and the rescue team moved to protect them. Even Garren, who had stepped back to tend to his wound, rushed toward Janice and Raymond, his face pale.

"Ah!"

That was when the blade of a rescue team member, blocking the kidnappers' swords, shattered. A broken shard flew toward Raymond. He had just lifted his bag—running toward it like a small hunting dog spotting its prey—when the blade came.

"..."

Raymond froze in shock, and in that instant, Janice, grasping the situation, shoved the frozen Raymond with both hands. And seeing that, Garren threw himself toward the children, heedless of his own life.

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