Chapter 878

『There it is! The antidemons are all over the gate!』

「Let’s take them out.」

『Yeah!』

When Fran and I arrived at the north gate, the antidemons were already swarming around it.

Just like the in the report, the outlaws were few in number. Arrows came raining down from the walls sparsely, and there were only a few warriors guarding the exterior of the gate.

It seems they’ve just barely managed to hold their formation in front of the gate, and prevent the antidemons from entering.

There were about 5,000 antidemons in all. If the outlaws really put in the full effort, it should have been an easy win……

One of the beastmen in front was pretty strong, so it’s probably thanks to him that they managed to hold on. But at this rate, it was only a matter of time.

Fran sped up and ran straight through the middle of the antidemons.

「I’ll cover you!」

「Huh? Oh, thanks!」

The beastman leader thanked Fran after her sudden appearance. He must have instantly understood that Fran’s strength would turn the tables.

「I’m Bryne, first seat of the Bloodfang Brigade!」

「I’m Fran.」

「The Black Lightning Princess! A big shot, eh! I’ll be counting on you!」

「Nn!」

Bryne was a tall but slender man. He had pretty good looks, but his narrow eyes and extremely pale skin made him look a bit morbid.

「Guys, just a little bit longer! Hang in there!」

「「「Yeah!」」」

Half an hour later…

「Taaah!」

「Gishyii!」

Fran swung me down on the last antidemon, which then fell to the ground. With this, the defense of the north gate was complete.

Soon after, the outlaws all rushed toward us.

「Y-You’re fucking amazing!」

「Sis! We did it!」

「That was so cool!」

「The black cats are pretty awesome!」

Since we saved them from a critical situation, all of them praised Fran their excitement.

「Black Lightning Princess, thanks for the help.」

「Bryne, did Mea not come?」

「Eh, right now she’s kinda like the Union Elder’s bodyguard. She kept trying to head out, but the contract wouldn’t let her.」

I thought it was strange that Mea didn’t come at a time like this, but it seems the leader of the Beastmen Union held her back. Mea couldn’t afford to go against the Beastmen Union for the sake of her goal, so she had to reluctantly give up on the battle.

Instead, she persuaded the executives to allow Bryne’s deployment in her stead.

It seems the executives knew they had to deploy someone, so they accepted Mea’s proposal.

「Why didn’t they want to send out their forces?」

「Apparently we got a tip that the Dragon King Syndicate was after our territory.」

「A tip? From who?」

「Dunno. But if the higher ups believed it, it must be a very solid source, right? Not that there’s much point in the first place if we let the antidemons in.」

After that, the outlaws started ranting about the Beastmen Union and the Dragon King Syndicate. Since this seemed like it would take forever, I had Fran interrupt with a few questions that were bothering me.

After seeing what Fran was capable of, the outlaws were very open to a discussion. We did heal them after all. Maybe if we’re lucky, they might let out some of their bosses’ dirty secrets. That’s the kind of mood I sensed from them.

What I found out was that most of the outlaws here were not members of the Dragon King Syndicate or the Beastmen Union. They mainly belonged to the smaller gangs.

The subordinate organizations of the Dragon King Syndicate and the Beastmen Union were also reluctant to send out many people, which is why only about 300 people had gathered.

Even though they belonged to different organizations, they would work together against the antidemons due to unspoken rules of the city.

「Oi, oi! You’re pretty awesome!」

「Who are you?」

While Fran listened to the outlaws, the adventurers on the city wall came down. The first one to speak to Fran was a confident-looking woman with short-cropped red hair.

「Miranleil of the Dragon King Syndicate! Nice to meet you!」

「Nn.」

Fran frowned lightly at Miranleil’s booming voice. This is probably her normal tone, so it wasn’t like she was trying to annoy Fran or anything.

With such a loud voice and complete lack of subtlety, it’s no wonder she’s unsuited for stealthy operations. She would be completely terrible as an assassin.

Apparently, the weird banging sound that kept coming from the top of the walls was the sound of Miranleil firing arrows.

We heard a similar story from Miranleil, about how Gephe and most of the others were kept at the headquarters because they were worried about a raid from the Beastmen Union. Velmeria and Frederick must be among them too.

Miranleil herself had apparently disobeyed orders to come here.

「You’re asking where our boss got that info?」

「Nn.」

「Dunno?」

So the source was someone that even Bryne and Miranleil, who were close to the top of their organizations, didn’t know about? Could it be Filuria? We don’t know her motive, but she’s done something similar when she framed Fran.

Anyways, I didn’t get the feeling that Bryne and Miranleil hated each other or anything. They were both apparently the type of person that didn’t care much for grudges or small details.

Since they managed to work together, I guess they considered each other allies for the time being. That’s good to know.

「I’m going to the south gate.」

We sent Urushi and the other adventurers to the south gate, so they should be fine. I want to check things out just in case though.

「You can take care of the rest here.」

「Sure thing!」

「Leave it to us!」

I’m still a little worried, but Bryne and Miranleil had sufficient strength. We can let the two handle the rest here.

「And no fighting!」

「S-Sure.」

「O-Okay!」

Fran nailed the two with her intimidation, and everyone nearby straightened their backs. Did they all just accept her superiority?