"Cease fire! Cease fire! She's one of ours! Let her in!"
Allen shouted, kicking aside a young man who still had his gun raised.
Only then did the young man snap out of it. Trembling, he clambered up from the ground and looked outside.
The streetlights happened to be broken that day, leaving the entire Hearthfire District pitch-black. Fortunately, the factories had their own lighting, and gas lamps mounted high on the walls cast their light below.
The Factory Guard held their positions behind the factory's outer walls. As long as they stayed inside the walls, the monsters would not attack them of their own accord, though they would retaliate when struck by bullets.
It was only thanks to this that they had managed to hold out.
The members of the Factory Guard were merely factory workers. Even with training, they fell far short of professional soldiers.
Yet the fighting against the monsters that night was no less intense than combat on a battlefield.
"Captain, those monsters will follow her in!"
"It's fine! She can handle them!" Allen shouted.
The men stopped firing and watched uneasily as the figure rushed toward them, a dense mass of monsters at her heels.
The gates were pulled open a crack. Several young men stood nervously behind them, ready to brace them shut the moment she entered. Yet the figure stopped at the entrance, turned around, and stood still for a moment.
It was almost as though... she were waiting for the monsters to come.
The men behind the gates grew frantic and hurriedly called for her to come inside. But as the monsters drew closer, they hastily raised their guns as well.
Hiding behind the gates, they cautiously peered out. All they saw was the figure dressed in black gauze, standing quietly at