Princess Fighter: Search for the Throne

XXVII

The referee continued to speak while the participants looked at him with anticipation, not knowing what awaited them.

"The rules are as follows - (1. The two players competing will be sitting on their backs. (2. The chessboard will be kept away from them. They will not be able to see the board at any time. (3. Each player must say their move out loud, and the moderator will move the piece accordingly. (4. Each round will be an elimination round. (5. The pair in the first round will be determined by the draw.

Any question?" ask referee.

Everyone looked at each other in shock! No questions were asked as everyone struggled to understand the rules at the time.

None of them imagined, forget to hear about such a game. Some kids decide that the rules are too harsh and decide to pull their name out of the challenge.

Mriga has been looking forward to the contest knowing that he is a good player in the game. But with the new rules introduced, his mind shrank to participate in this version and that too in front of the crowd.

Suddenly, she recalled what Shaurya had said to her at one of their night stopovers.

He said, "If you don't want to try it, how do you test your inner courage, the stuff you actually made?"

He planted the spell firmly in his head and told himself that it was just a contest. Finally, there were sixteen of them who decided to face this version of chess.

Mriga immediately rethinks the memory game he has been playing with Prithvi for the past few weeks and tells himself that this version is probably a visual memory game as well as a strategy one.

After three rounds of elimination, Mriga finds herself in the final round, facing a girl who is in her final year of study.

Gangadhaara was a student representing Gurukul in last year's international chess tournament held in Sapt Sindhu.

Mriga's face fell. There was no way he would excel against this competitor. In the previous three games, perhaps the fact that everyone is introduced to these new rules at the same time, has helped.

But after playing for a few hours now, his competitors would manage to fit well into the situation.

...****************...

Half an hour later

The board that was clearly visible to everyone in the room except the players, looked almost empty. Mriga only has his King left and the senior stands with his Knight and King on the board.

They have played a blitz version of the game unlike any previous slow fight during the preliminary round. Mriga's strategy since the beginning of the game is to exchange pieces to progress in the game as she realizes the senior girl's superior skills.

Unfortunately, on one of the exchanges, the senior got lucky and ended up saving his Knight. But at this moment, Mriga is happy to be able to reach this stage because at least from here he should not lose.

That would most likely be a tie if none of them managed to get a check under a hundred moves.

...****************...

After 90 minutes

The game has been running on the same three parts for the past hour. Mriga began to show signs of uneasiness.

He sighed loudly and cracked his knuckles in frustration. The other girl smiled as she absorbed all of these reactions.

Mriga knows that another girl has managed to get into her skin and she needs to try something different.

He knew that the stalemate would be hard to come by against seniors because he would be able to read his movements well. Although the stalemate meant a series, it was superior to the usual series for the person who forced it.

The standoff means that the opposing King is not under surveillance but has been cornered into a position where he is unable to move in any direction (such as the Panic Room in the bunker, safe but jammed).

Mriga decided to move his King from the center of the board to a corner. He knew that it was a risk he took but …

...****************...

Fifteen minutes later

The referee's voice rang out in the hall, "Mrignayani had left Gangadhaara deadlocked, making the match end in a draw. Both players will be considered winners in this game."

When chess has been formulated as a game, the person giving the stalemate is considered the winner, but in recent decades, the game's rule makers have decided to take it as a series.

Ganges closed her eyes to understand what had happened in the past few minutes. He is well aware that he is the better player of the two but due to that knowledge, complacency has taken over him, after the initial threat of winning and losing has been eliminated from the game.

Some time ago, when he sensed Mriga was becoming impatient and agitated, he let go of all sense of competition and assumed that the game would end in a draw.

Surprisingly, the younger girl not only held back her nervousness until the end, but also managed to record a psychological victory over her.

Ganga smiled to herself, "He is an interesting competitor to fight against. I've learned a valuable lesson today."

Mriga had never felt like this before. For the past half hour, all of his senses had been reduced to a single point in his head where he could see the chessboard and the pieces moving on it.

He had drowned the murmur of the crowd along with his own fear.

As the announcement about the result became in focus, he began to realize other things around him as well. His feet were numb from sitting in a stiff position for so long. His hands were cold and his neck looked like it was cracked as it was guarded at one particular angle.

He shook his limbs to get the sensation back and turned to welcome his competitors.

Gangadhaara was not only his senior in Gurukul but also a great chess player and he bowed to him as a sign of respect. It was a closely contested match and both have given their best.

He believes that if not for his initial exposure on the game with his mother and his recent training with Prithvi, the results would have been different.

Unbeknownst to Mriga, there were more than one pair of eyes following and closely watching his play.

"You are amazing! Had I not seen you play today, I could never have imagined your serious and mature attitude. You look like a very different person during the game" Ishani exclaimed.

He went down to the floor playing with Vandit and Abhirath to congratulate him.

The boy also praised her very much, making her feel sober. They all decided to exit the hall for a short break. There's still time before the quiz starts.

"Oh! You're right here. Is everything okay? I searched for you everywhere but could not find you. Where are you?" Mriga meets Yash at the entrance of the hall and babbles in relief.

"Obviously you are busy with your new friends otherwise you will find me. I went to the pharmacy to help a friend who was seriously injured during the pyramid game. By the time I got back, you were busy registering yourself with a new one in organizing members for the quiz. So, I decided not to bother you," Yash replied firmly.

Mriga blushed in embarrassment. Both Vandit and Abhirath stood within earshot and seemed uncomfortable with his outspoken words.

Suddenly Ishani pushes Mriga back and thrusts her index finger into Yash's chest.

"He stood right in this place for half an hour and asked for your whereabouts among ordinary friends. If you don't bother to send a message or come by yourself, in time, should we get enlightened about it? So what if we registered it at that time, you could come tell us that you're here rather than sulking like a crybaby" he said angrily.

Ishani has always supported Yash in terms of helping Mriga understand his point of view. But she did it all because Mriga liked the man and she wanted to help smooth their relationship.

But he was a loyal loyalist to his friend and in this case, Mriga did nothing wrong. So he didn't curb his words.

"Truly br*ngsek!" Vandit also did not hold back his reaction.

But Abhirath immediately shook his head and told the girls that they would get something to eat while the girls could freshen up.

"You shouldn't say that" Abhirath told Vandit as soon as they were out of Mriga's hearing range.

"Why not? He behaves like a b*j*ngan and that's what I'm saying. And shouldn't you be glad I spoke up, for a change?" Vandit.

Abhirath smiled strangely and replied, "I know why he attacked like that. Had I been in his place, I might have done the same or worse. Maybe I've been in that position too long... By the way, leave this topic. We need to concentrate on the upcoming competition."

Half an hour later, the students had gathered back to the hall and stood near the podium where the contest would take place. The moderator invites both teams to sit down.

Mriga searched through their team's placards and suddenly saw Yash's name on another table. He stops there in a daze until Ishani comes and nudges him.

"What does this mean? And who are these three girls whose names are written? How dare he question you when he himself goes and signs up for another group? I'll go and ask her how she interrogated you." back then," Ishani spouted fire.

"That's it. Let's get out of here now," Mriga said in a calm tone.

He was completely confused but had no time to think about it at this moment.

Their table was positioned in such a way that he could see the Yash table in his diagonal view. As if her mind had conjured her up, she arrived there with the three girls and replaced them.

Mriga did not recognize any of them while the other two looked familiar. But even after thinking hard, he still could not remember where he saw them.

"Mriga, focus on the game now. The moderator will tell us about the regulations now. We will deal with the arrogant Prince later," Ishani whispered to Mriga, who wore a confused expression.

Meanwhile, Vandit and Abhirath also look at Yash and look at each other in wonder. Abhirath looked at Mriga from the corner of his eye.

He knew that he had to be happy that there was trouble in heaven for the love bird but his heart ached seeing the expression on his face.

He knew that the man attacked Mriga in this way, but the act had exposed his sadly lacking maturity level.

He looked at Vandit and said, "Let's try and win this!"

...----------------...

“The rules of the game are as follows. The first half will contain questions to each team chronologically. If they are wrong, then it will be passed on to the next team and so on. The order will be determined by selecting chits. Round two will be the buzzer round. There's a bell in front of you. Sound it fast and loud but only if you are sure of the answer. This round carries a negative sign. The winner is the team with the highest score at the end of the two rounds. Any question?" ask moderator.

"What if two teams ring the bell at the same time?" a cultured voice asked him.

All eyes were on the beautiful girl who had asked the question. Mriga looked at the girl whose posture seemed very comfortable sitting next to Yash.

Looking at them, no one would say that they were strangers. As if sensing his gaze, Yash lifted his eyes and met his eyes on the podium.

Some of his bewildering pain must have been reflected through the conversation that made him stand up straight and averted his gaze.

Mriga did not hear the referee's response. At this moment, he didn't care about it.

The first half began and fortunately among the four of them, Mriga's team knew all their answers.

Unfortunately, due to the sequence, the team before Yash was very weak and that gave them a chance to earn extra points. The Mriga team is the first in chronological order and the last team in sequence manages their answers well.

As a result, Mriga's group did not get additional questions. At the end of the first round, Yash's team finished second, while Mriga's team finished fourth with the other team.

The moderator writes the final score on the board and declares a five-minute break before the next round.

"Come guys! This is our time to close the gap. We are fine and among the four of us, we have most of the fields covered. Make sure no one rings the bell unless you're sure of the answer because we're not capable of giving negative value" the eager Vandit spoke to the team.

Mriga smiled seeing his real passion. He could barely understand his current attitude when compared to his attitude in his early days with the Admin team.

And the most surprising part was that he turned out to be good friends with Abhirath. He teased and pulled the man without fear of a counterattack and Abhirath also treated him patiently.

He was concentrating on these guys, trying to take his mind off what was happening at the other end of the podium. Ishani's fingers covered her palms and squeezed them to reassure. Mriga smiled at him indicating that he was fine.

The second half began and the team that finished first played aggressively for the first three questions and lost in all three.

Two of those answers were given by Mriga's team and one by the third-placed team. With seven more questions, it was anyone's victory at the moment.

The next question is about the Chandragarh Enemy Property Act.

Both Mriga and Abhirath looked at each other, as if their heads had been synchronized. They had learned it in the early days of the apprenticeship, when Prithvi usually held sessions for them to post their daily assignments.

Pushing back Ishani, who was sitting between them, they had an urgent whisper conversation, but before they could ring the bell, Yash's group had defeated them.

Vindhya's melodious and cultured voice was clearly heard in the hall as she noted the terms of the action. Mriga squeezed her eyes in frustration as the girl started talking.

But he suddenly opened his eyes and looked at Abhirath, who was already smiling widely.

He stood up and rang the bell loudly, stating that the answer given was wrong.

Vindhya stopped in the middle of the sentence and glared at him.

The moderator looked at Abhirath with fear.

"I suggest you sit down. The answer given by the contestant was the correct answer," he said lightly.

But Abhirath stood upright further and used his condescending voice to speak to the moderator and the room.

"Guruji, forgive my negligence in correcting you. The provisions of the law read out by other team participants, are the old version. Earlier this year, an amendment was introduced that reversed the provisions of the previous law. The most important of them is where Chandragarh is now allowed to sell property belonging to citizens who are at war with us and have been declared our enemy," with that, he bowed and sat down.

A few days ago, had someone told Mriga that he would consider Abhirath's arrogance one day, he would have called the person crazy. But at this moment, he could not stop smiling at her.

The moderator again consulted with several professors who were present at the location at the time. As per the text, the answer given by Vindhya was correct.

After consulting with two senior law teachers, the moderator was about to return to the podium when he was stopped by someone's staff.

"The answer given by Abhirath is the truth. If you need proof, go and check the legal sheets sent earlier this year by the Queen's office to all places, tell them about the same," prithvi's clear words took the moderator by surprise.

"But Guruji, the law teacher said that since the textbook does not have updated material, the previous answer must be marked correctly," he replied in self-defense.

The moderator vaguely finds out about Prithvi as the head of an unknown department and this is the first time he has interacted with her, directly.

Did he really expect his words to be taken over by the law faculty?