Princess Fighter: Search for the Throne

Chapter 85: Your Guess Is Just as Good as My Guess

Gouruk

Abhirath did not know how to react at this moment, but one thing was already very clear to him now. Subtlety was the most wrong approach to use with this sluggish girl.

He let go of Mriga's arm, instead hooking his fingers against his arm and taking a slow breath to sound relaxed.

"Good! Let's go and listen to what he has to say," he said in an indifferent manner.

Mriga looked at his brazen behavior and shook his head while muttering,

"Children, hooligans, idiots…"

But for some reason, he did not pull his hand from his. In the end, Abhirath pretended not to hear her words and pulled her towards the other girl who did not know that two people were almost fighting because of her.

"Hai Vaishali, I asked Abhirath to talk to you about the matter you raised yesterday," Mriga called another girl as they approached her.

Vaishali was caught off guard by her words and almost choked on her saliva when she saw the two of them coming towards her. He bit his tongue to stop his face from heating up and subconsciously pulled his earlobes as he smiled as he looked at their intertwined hands.

"Mriga said that you want to talk about the maze incident," she started without wasting any time for pleasantries, sounding rude.

He could see that he was feeling uneasy before him and it reminded him of his own awkwardness over the past few years whenever he faced or approached the girl who was now standing next to him.

Therefore, he knew that it would be easier for Vaishali if she showed an indifferent face to him at this moment. Had the topic not been important, he would not have interacted with her but even though he complained that day to the team in the arena of the match, there was no progress in terms of finding the culprit.

Abhirath was specifically looking for the man who had injured Mriga in the tunnel.

"Yes, I'm suspicious of some people, but I have no proof," Vaishali started calmly.

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eastern zila

Ramanujam opened his eyes as the door creaked shut and his feet moved away from where he lay. He turned around and walked towards the small hole he had dug into the wooden barricade separating his room from whatever was on the other side.

He opened his nostrils wide and took a deep breath through the hole.

He could feel the blood in his mouth from the wounds he had inflicted on his tongue to remain conscious when the poisonous gas was released indoors.

In the past few days, he realized that the effect of this gas was strongest during the first five minutes.

He only needed to be aware of the sound of bursts releasing gas into his cell. If he managed to hold his breath from then until the opening of the room by the kidnapper, it would ensure that a lot of things would be lost by then.

He has spent every waking minute in the past two days digging holes where he can breathe until the effects of the remaining gas evaporate from his cells.

This was because he had to stay awake longer so that he could find a way out for himself.

Now, he had realized that the perpetrators had no intention of killing him until now which meant he still had a chance to get out of this captivity. In his head, he had thought through various scenarios and rejected many scenarios on the basis of anything he could create from his surroundings.

The easiest guess was that he had followed the head of the Eastern zilla and was caught. Given the events prior to his arrest, it is a fair assumption to have Dushyant aka Sharada involved in this kidnapping which means that there is something 'he' doesn't want anyone else to know about. It was already night when he followed the head of the zilla.

Because it was not an easy task to transport the unconscious Ramanujam from one place to another at that time, he was dragged into the building where he was following Sharada or they had waited until nightfall before moving him to his current location.

As he recalled, the area where he was following Sharada, was not far from the office of Cakra Suraksha and also the sea. Unfortunately, the area is not very densely populated.

In the past two days, he had tried his best to try and listen to whether he could hear the waves near the shoreline. Even though he could not hear them, the air must have been damp in the place where he was being held.

Once again, once again, it is possible that he is underground which will make the environment feel moist but he has found rust and decay on most of the nails that have been plugged into the place used to cover them.

It gives him hope and also an idea. Now, all he needed was some uninterrupted time and a bit of luck by his side.

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Capital city, Chandragarh

Prithvi does not know if he can trust Amrapali, the current in charge of Suraksha's Chakra office in East Zilla. With so many things going on in a certain zilla in the past, he didn't want to take another misstep.

In fact, a cautious person like him did not trust many people and in the current situation, his confidence level was at an all-time low.

But he's run out of options. Links to his brothel, Mandodri cannot know anything about Ramanujam's whereabouts.

Meanwhile, he had activated a network of beggars and sweepers but they needed someone to issue instructions and direct the search operation in the field.

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Capital city, Chandragarh

Prithvi really misses Shaurya at the moment. Over the past few years, the man has become the most trusted weapon to use to protect their country, especially in situations like this.

He recalled that the murmur about what was being played today was first noticed by the youngster at the beginning of the current school year. So much has happened since then that it feels like a distant event.

Does this mean he ended up running out of all other options?

Is it time to get out of the shadows?

His mouth pressed into a thin line and he went to stand in front of his wardrobe. Taking out a pair of well-fitting black pantaloons and small kurtas of the same color, she changed clothes quickly, removing all the accessories from her hands and hair.

He folded his long hair to tie it with a secure top knot.

It was time to face the enemy head on. It seemed that his prudence was interpreted as his cowardice. He took out his wooden staff which contained a deadly and poisonous sword inside. It was cold but for the man who stepped out of his house, there was only a burning sensation inside.

He summoned two eagles and sent them out after tucking their respective messages under their wings.

"Saraswati, wake! Uff, this girl is old but still sleeping as if she had sold all her horses before going to bed. Wake up.." The old Vaidya shook her daughter violently.

After her threatening loud scream shook the entire Gurukul, Saraswati finally sat down and grumbled with a dark expression in her eyes.

Since there was no one else in the Admin department these days, the entire work of Suraksha's chakra as well as the coordination of the tournament were on his tired shoulders.

It felt like he had yet to eliminate the fatigue of the Southern zilla and a new burden had been given to him.

"The urgent message has come for you" his father said very seriously.

Rubbing fatigue from his eyes, he took the folded parchment from him and opened it. A second later, his mouth opened.

Did the man try to kill him?

He was now supposed to organize the entire show by himself for the next three days. The second round of the next stage will be carried out the next day.

How could he coordinate and supervise the event, get in touch with the royal palace and manage the tables in the Admin building?

"Dad, you have to help me for the next few days. I beg. My boss is AWOL," he turned his red-framed eyes towards the white-haired Vaidya.

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The day of the second round, the second stage finally arrived.

Since there was no preparation to be made, most of the girls spent the time between the first half until now fretfully. Perhaps that was the purpose behind giving a pause between these two exams. The venue is the same auditorium where written tests were previously held.

There were different colored rolled sheets stored in small clay pots on the watchdog table that each contained a question. Each participant must choose one with blank paper to try the answer.

It was a confusing format because there was no word limit to the answer. The watchdog announced that the girls could take as many sheets as they wanted to fill in the answers.

Does that mean long answers are expected or is this to throw them out of their game?

No one knows but it adds another whistle to the presto pot in everyone's mind.

In total, Prithvi asked four questions for this test. The main purpose of holding this test was to gain insight into the examinee's soul.

Since there is no right answer, the probability of getting the right answer from everyone, is higher. Dealing with ambiguous situations and resisting pressure is just a side effect, which helps to understand the mental strength of the examinee.

With a deep breath filling his nostrils, Mriga unrolled the question scroll and looked at it.

"The most stubborn one is..."

Huh huh?

Was it?

Holy hooch!

That's a vague question. He looked at the sheet with fear. Even though he knew his question was open, it should have given him some kind of hint, right?

He can think of many people who fall into the stubborn category, sometimes he also belongs.

But he is convinced that his answer should not include his name or the people he knows.

Was he supposed to think of famous people in the past who had such personalities?

Damn, even an entire day might not be enough to give an answer to this.

And how much should he register?

Two four?

"Guruji.." cried out in frustration.

Far to his right end is Yuvati, an acrobat who actually comes from a family of street performers. Not very intelligent in the academic sense, she always had bigger dreams than her family. He was a good student at Gurukul and had studied in the same class as Mriga since the age of nine.

Because his specialty is science, he has known Vindhya and the QIT aspirations he self-expressed over the past few years. Instead of being a deterrent, it ignited the flames of competition within Yuvati when its entry into the competition was announced.

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Yuvati wants to test her courage against Vindhya, her senior and also uses this as a means to discover her own abilities. His parents were very happy when he told them about his desire to participate in the competition but for a completely different reason.

They believed that it would be a good promotion for their business if their daughter managed to complete even one stage and wholeheartedly supported it.

As expected, for him, the physical round was very easy to pass. In fact, the written examination was the first serious hurdle he faced. To his delight, the multiple-choice questionnaire has been a surprise and a delight, where he has to rely more on his common sense than knowledge in his brain.

Suddenly for the first time he felt that maybe he would be able to finish this round and start looking for a partner for the next round, like the many times chess champion, Ganga.

But now, staring at the question in front of him, he could only scratch his ears in a daze.

"In this world, who is the true wanderer..."

Considering that her family moved around all the time from place to place as a street artist, for a foolish moment, she wondered if the question was aimed specifically at her.

"Yes God! I guess I didn't finish this round," he murmured to himself nervously.

Vindhya who was sitting right next to Yuvati, unrolled in her hand in trepidation. The people across the hall already looked deathly pale and it made his hands tremble slightly as he untied the thread around the question paper scroll.

His gaze was fixed on a single line written there and a line of wrinkles appeared between his eyes. What does this mean?

"The most dangerous liar…"

Is there another part of the line?

He turned the page to check the same thing but then looked back at the same half-baked line. He raised his head and saw a puzzled expression on the faces of everyone across the hall, like his own face.

"Well, luckily I'm not the only one who feels like a fool," the thought crossed his head.

Returning to the question, he could think of many people who would fall into the category of liars, including himself but clearly he would not admit it. And what do you mean dangerous?

Damn, even a full week might not be enough to give an answer to this.

Right behind the examination hall, was Vaishali holding her head between her hands. He had read and reread that one line more than twenty times but completely did not understand it, forgetting to answer it.

"What is heavier than the Earth, higher than the sky, and faster than the wind?"

He looked up at the ceiling and quietly shouted,

"Is this a physics question? Can anyone help?"

Some students left the hall after half an hour. They have given up trying to answer or write answers just for the sake of filling the paper. But it's better than sitting there and being frustrated.

After falling asleep for a while and then looking up at the ceiling for some time, Mriga pinched herself and returned her mind to the task.

"What is the purpose of this exercise? To check our suitability as the next QIT. So, if I have to think of someone stubborn, I need to remember that Guruji is not looking for a name. Does that mean the question refers to personality? Or habits? But stubbornness was a trait in itself," he murmured to himself, attracting strange gazes from those around him.

He was completely immersed in his thoughts and could not be bothered if people considered him crazy at the moment.

What he didn't realize was that since his appearance on the first day, he had, other contestants began to keep an eye on her activities and the trend increased many times over post the first part of the physical stage where she made some unusual choices in clearing those rounds. That was why the girls in the auditorium looked at him trying to figure out a way to solve the almost impossible question in their hands.

"Wait on! The question needs to be answered according to my interpretation of the same thing and not in someone else's opinion, right?" saying so, a smile adorned his face and he leaned over to scribble something on his answer sheet.

Within two minutes, he got up and handed over his paper, walking out of the examination hall.

Vindhya's eyes followed her out of the hall in disdain.

Did Chit find the answer?

Not possible!

On the other hand, Vaishali who was originally not the most patient person, had already tried enough to find a scientific answer to the question asked. 'A question that doesn't just have one correct answer makes it abstract'. Therefore, he decided to look at the question in a philosophical way.

Suddenly, he smiled at himself sadly. Against his background, he has yet to find someone in his infancy who is dedicated enough to him to guide him or hold philosophical discourses with him.

As an orphan, he should be grateful for the food in his stomach and the clothes on his body. More hope is just a distant dream.

The thought of his late parents at this moment made him blink his eyes quickly to ward off the tears that were trying to escape from him.

Yuvati had already taken another sheet after writing and crossed out different answers in the previous sheet, but somehow nothing felt right.

He has thrown out making lists of people after writing about nomads, artists, and others. But then two consciousnesses hit him.

Firstly, the answer cannot be superficial and secondly, there is the word 'real' before the travelers. So, they're trying to show you something with it…

Vindhya's mind was fully focused on looking at the question from a QIT perspective. He did not wonder about anything else but tried to understand the point of view of the person evaluating his paper…