Because we get a cliffhanger, just like at the end of Baldo and Lau's mission. 😭

We return to Lau's Opium den, where their clothes have been repaired and cleaned, so Seb is removing the Chinese outfit he'd borrowed and putting on his usual butler's uniform. Sorry, but there's no fan service for the Seb simps, unless you are into what's not shown... or gloved hands.

Ran-Mao and other ladies from the establishment show up with several boxes of clothes and at least one box with a hat, maybe two. One hat is from Lock & Co. Hatters, on St. James Street, in London. The rest comes from Hopkins, so that means Nina's still helping them.

They need fresh clothes for their upcoming mission to the resort hotel in Brighton. Sebastian goes to his young master's room to get him ready for travel. Our earl asks something about the clothes from Nina. Or about Nina herself.

I don't know what all they say, but Sebastian does point out that the kid's current outfit reeks of opium (which would never do for where they are headed).

So, time to change clothes. I think we've seen scenes like this a few times throughout the series. It's very methodical and almost ritualistic. In a way, for demon and master, it is a sort of ritual, though.

Are his short pants slightly longer now? 🤔

And off they go.

So! It looks like we are going to Brighton next month, after all.

I was right we'd get the kids struggling to reach the river. Anyone who guessed we'd cut to our earl and Sebastian starting their mission was also right.

A whole new scenery next month.

Back to how ch210 ends, we see the shooting scene from a different viewpoint, and it's very clear that Finny has been shot in the left shin.

The five kids all go deeper into the water, Finny basically still pushing Oliver along, as the staff get to the edge of the drain. The staff might be talking about how the kids won't get far, but I'm not sure.

They are swimming as best they can but find a grating at the exit to the outside.

Earlier, like a month or two ago, I'd suggested we might see Finny tear down a fence or gate, once they get out of the water. Instead, we might just get him breaking through this grate...

...and that's exactly what we get.

The others go on ahead of Finny, and I'm surprised how well Oliver is swimming through the current, using a hand to cover his mouth and nose. Artie is also holding a hand over his own mouth and his other hand at his throat. Not an easy way to swim!

Finny is losing the battle of holding his breath, but the hole in the drain brings back memories of coming out of the hatch at the drug facility and being taken in by our earl and Sebastian, and Finny presses onward.

Finny reaches out towards the surface and is pulled up by two hands reaching down.

Finny's previous escape, from the drug facility, was much simpler. His friends were likely all dead, killed in experiments, arranged fights, and then by the researchers trying to destroy all their work.

With these two pages, we have Finny referring to himself as S-012... but as the researchers called him -- Test Subject Zwölf -- confirming once and for all that the drug facility was run by Germans. Which we figured by now, anyway, but this is a nice confirmation. Would be better if "test subject" were also in German, though. 🤔

Simpler times, indeed. He only needed to survive and get out. Now he has other people in need of help, and that complicates things.

It's quite impressive that Theo has been keeping track of turns and steps this whole time they've been underground, particularly since he's found out he was supposed to be next to "fledge". This makes me wonder how accurate he is.

I still want to compare this map to a map of Norfolk....

The staff don't seem to have dealt with this scenario before, but at least one of them knows there's no way out through that drainage system. The entire place was built with the idea in mind that kids might try to escape, and all escape attempts must fail. They assume these kids will come back up for air... or drown down there.

There is this grate blocking the exit, which is what the staff member meant.

I said, a month or so ago, that we might see Finny bust through a metal fence or gate.

I was expecting a fence or gate above ground, but this will do just fine. The other kids swim ahead. For all the fuss he made, Oliver is doing well enough. Maybe it's one of those situations where he gives himself less credit than he deserves.

Finny struggles to keep going, but he's thinking of the day he was found by our earl and Sebastian. He doesn't finish his thought, though. What could they do? Reaching their goal is probably what he's thinking of. Maybe at least coming there to finish the job of dismantling the facility.

He's been shot twice and has used much of his strength breaking the grate open. As he's reaching his own limits, two hands grab his.

The head matron and Susan have caught up to the kids again and continue to shoot, shattering another organ jar.

Even Doll seems annoyed at the intrusion from the staff. The head matron tells them their "game of tag" is over, that they have no map or weapons, and that they must obey their teachers/the authority.

She talks mostly to Theo, as assumed leader of the pack, and he feigns agreeing with her. Then he calls to Mabel while signaling to use his hands as a lift up.

Mabel springs into action and gives the head matron a hard kick to the head, leaving Susan as the last staff member there (for now, anyway...).

Susan shows she cares way more about a hefty paycheck than she ever could about those kids. But Mabel's attack also serves as distraction, and Oliver gets behind Susan with a large knife that the staff didn't know he had.

Oliver. Bless him. 😅

Then Theo asks what Susan (and the injured head matron, I guess) think of these "aptitudes" they've cultivated in the top students.

Feeling truly defeated, Susan drops her gun, and Theo sighs with relief.