“I’ve told you, but you won’t listen.”

“I want to make it clear that the reason I don’t trust Your Grace is entirely your own responsibility. Oh, and…”

Cedine played a card to provoke the Duke.

“You should learn torture techniques from my husband. How could you reduce a person to that state in such a short time after kidnapping my sister? My husband kept you alive for 38 hours even while flaying your flesh.”

The Duke’s eyes visibly rolled. Just hearing about it seemed to revive his nightmares from that time. For a moment, the Duke lost his reason and tried to draw his gun.

However, the situation changed when a bullet from the back of the second floor hit his shoulder. The subordinates looked around at the gunshot that was heard before the order to fire was given.

“Who is it?”

“Who fired?”

“Which direction? Was it you? Or your side?”

“I-I don’t know. It’s so sudden.”

The Duke, clutching his wounded shoulder, shouted.

“You stupid bastards! Get a grip, all of you!”

Ivlik instantly took down two armed guards and then took cover behind the high-stacked wooden boxes. Cedine shot at the Duke with the revolver she pulled from her bosom. Unfortunately, the Duke dodged Cedine’s gunfire with the reflexes of a human in mortal danger and fled.

A gunfight broke out in an instant. Before chasing after the Duke, Cedine first checked the condition of the woman tied to the chair.

‘She’s stopped breathing.’

The woman’s body emitted a stench reminiscent of back alleys. Whether she was a homeless person or a prisoner, Cedine couldn’t tell. Either way, she hoped the woman’s suffering hadn’t been prolonged. Or that she had already passed away before catching the eye of the Duke’s side. Putting aside her feelings of regret, Cedine pursued the Duke.

“Aaargh! How did things end up like this!”

The Duke shouted, unable to contain his anger even as he fled. The second-floor railing was so narrow that two adults would have to bump shoulders to pass through. He pushed his subordinate to block Cedine’s gunfire, then ran to a place where he had a bit more room to maneuver.

Meanwhile, Cedine reloaded her gun while running, as she had learned in the elite course. Cedine could see the direction the Duke was heading. She could continue chasing along the corridor, but there was also a shortcut. It involved throwing herself over the railing and grabbing a long rope to reach the Duke’s destination in one go.

‘Would it be dangerous?’

The height of the warehouse’s second floor was quite different from that of a residential house. It was actually almost as high as a third floor, and there was nothing to cushion Cedine’s impact if she missed the rope. If she missed, she would simply fall to the floor.

‘But I’ve done similar in training thousands, tens of thousands of times. I should trust my body that has memorized the sensation.’

Cedine shoved the revolver back into her inner pocket. In an instant, she threw herself over the railing, not taking her eyes off the target until she grabbed the rope. After the rough rope entered her grasp, she focused on twisting her body to change direction.

Thud.

As Cedine appeared in front of him in a way he never expected, the Duke started firing wildly. There was no time to draw the revolver. This time, Cedine used an armed guard rushing from behind as a pivot to launch herself. The man, losing his balance, instinctively tensed up and held on, trying not to fall over the railing.

Bang bang bang.

The Duke’s indiscriminate firing pierced through the guard’s body. Cedine hadn’t landed yet. Her balance was disrupted. Cedine, who had lost her footing, tried to use the dead guard’s body as a shield but failed.

“Ugh… So heavy!”

The body of the guard, which was larger and thicker than Ivlik’s, pinned Cedine down. In the midst of this, the Duke’s bullet narrowly grazed Cedine’s shoulder. The next one might hit properly. Cedine barely managed to push the guard away and pulled out her revolver from her inner pocket.

As soon as the Duke saw Cedine drawing her revolver, he took cover in a recessed area of the corridor wall. Cedine fired her first shot, then waited for the Duke to peek out slightly before pulling the trigger a second time. Both times, her aim wasn’t bad. The problem was that she didn’t hit him.

‘Ah, just one more time. One more.’

Was it due to the tension of having to kill him? Her hands kept getting sweaty. At that moment, the Duke suddenly tore something off the wall and came running down the corridor using a rusty metal plate as a shield.

‘It’s wrong to aim for the upper body.’

Cedine aimed for the Duke’s calf as he ran. It was a more difficult target than the thigh, but there was no other choice now. After four attempts, the Duke screamed at the last shot. Dropping the metal plate, he leaned against the wall, cursing.

The distance between them was too close. There was no time to reload now. Cedine drew a military knife from the garter belt on her thigh.

“Damn it, die!”

The Duke pulled out a new gun from his bosom and tried to aim at Cedine and pull the trigger. However, the next moment, he fell with a short scream.

Cedine immediately turned and shouted. It seemed as if she was speaking to Karen, but it was actually to unsettle the Duke’s subordinates.

“Sister, Crotsfield is dead!”

The situation unfolded as Cedine intended. The remaining subordinates were greatly confused by the news of their leader’s death. They hesitated for just a few seconds, but Karen and Ivlik didn’t miss the opportunity. Their consecutive shots hit the heads and chests of the armed guards.

Cedine also rolled to avoid the attack of a large man rushing at her. As she did so, she picked up the military knife she had dropped earlier while dodging the Duke’s gunfire and threw it towards the man’s groin. The knife, flying accurately towards its target, sank into the flesh wrapped in pants with a thud. A painful scream erupted from the man. A shot fired by Ivlik from afar ended his suffering.

“As a fellow man, I feel sorry for him.”

Ivlik added words that weren’t even asked for. The three looked around, counting the bodies. All of the Duke’s subordinates had been dealt with. The immediate danger was over. As Cedine sighed in relief, Ivlik and Karen approached her.

Cedine shook her head at her sister’s question about whether she was hurt anywhere. She wasn’t seriously injured. Just some light bruises here and there.

“Ivlik, are you okay?”

“I’m fine…”

He paused mid-sentence and clutched his side.

“This part feels like it’s burning though.”

“Don’t be fooled. If he’s standing on two legs and talking properly, he’s fine.”

Karen judged her brother-in-law’s condition by her own somewhat tough standards. Cedine was curious about how she had managed to evade the Duke’s side and sneak into the warehouse.

“But how did you get here, Sister?”

“Well, it’s a long story…”

Karen spoke about going back to the Intelligence Bureau to retrieve something she had forgotten.

“It was after most people had left work. Then I ran into a colleague who was confirmed for overtime. With dark circles under their eyes reaching their chin, they said enviously that they wished they could get a long vacation like me. They said they didn’t even want a few months, just one month to sleep soundly…”

Instead of asking what that meant, Karen entered the darkened General Affairs Department. An Intelligence Bureau agent isn’t in a position to freely take long vacations unless seriously ill. Legally, short-term leave and sick leave were guaranteed. But while Duke Crotsfield was holding on as deputy director, it was practically impossible.

It was strange that Karen had received a long vacation without even knowing it. Karen found a document with her name clearly written among the already processed vacation requests. The start date was next Monday, the day after tomorrow. The end date was a full 6 months later.

“From then on, I ran around with my hat pulled low. They were probably trying to ambush me right after I left work.”

“So when Lieutenant Liere didn’t show up no matter how long they waited, they changed their plan. Decided to grab Cedine first.”

“That’s right.”

Karen readily agreed. She looked around the blood-spattered warehouse and muttered, “It’s like Christmas.”

She explained that this area was prone to crime, so even if gunshots were heard at night, no one would report it and would just lock their doors. The bloodstains could be roughly covered with dirt. Even if discovered later, it would be dismissed as gang rivalry.

“But the bodies are another matter. We need to deal with them before sunrise.”

Cedine nodded and asked what she meant by it being like Christmas. Karen smiled and replied,

“My wish came true. Plus, it’s red all over.”

* * *