Princess Fighter: Search for the Throne

Chapter 88: Return

Admin Building, Gurukul

"really? Is that why the stage two score tally has been handed over to the royal statistics team and your father has not managed to go to the pharmacy for the past two days? If things are under control, why should I need to shorten the journey and return sooner?"

Prithvi throws scolding at her with his typical lazy attitude, making her sound even more painful.

But after working for her for so many years now, Saraswati's skin is as thick as a rhino and she doesn't remember her words.

"Obviously, you're tired and hungry," with that she came out of her room.

Prithvi glared at his back in shock. Does this woman know how scary her boss really is?

Would he still be able to repay her if she revealed her true nature in front of him?

He told himself to calm down. He could not afford the sulking subordinates right now, as he was the only one available to carry out his instructions at the moment.

He shifted his focus back to the message in hand.

Bela had sent him a notice of his arrival in the capital and the return of Shaurya which made him feel a little relieved. But other messages from his East zilla team are not so promising.

When they made it into the building where Ramanujam was kept, they found no one there. But they could see signs someone had been taken prisoner recently.

They also found traces of air-borne toxins that may have been administered there repeatedly in order to remain in the air.

Prithvi is convinced that under the interrogation of his trusted aide, his lover will not lie, which means that the captive in that place is Ramanujam.

Right now, Prithvi can only hope Ramanujam manages to escape rather than being moved from there for some reason. He shied away from thinking about the worst possible but then at the next moment, he revisited that thought.

He needs to make a suitable plan and does not have the luxury of escaping real possibilities.

That's her!

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02:00, East Zilla

Ramanujam took the water in his mouth and twisted it, only to spit out a lot of clotted blood. To keep herself on her guard, she systematically and viciously bit her tongue over the past few days whenever poison was sprayed into the room.

As a result, his tongue swelled up and felt like a giant whale sitting inside his mouth.

After successfully escaping from that place, he headed straight for the forest where he used to train the trainees. This was one place where he was pretty sure of being outside everyone's radar. Not only is it safe, it is also close to the building that Sharada has now taken over from Amrapali.

Ramanujam spent a lot of time thinking about the possible discovery of hidden dungeons in the Suraksha Cakra building. Did he have opened himself up in the building himself or was he intercepted just when he started trailing the person?

He grimaced in pain as he stuffed some of the dried beans Mriga had hidden in the tree hole the last time he was here. He was grateful for his voracious behavior, for the change, because this was all he could do at the moment.

"If Sharada and the team knew of my whereabouts in the basement, why would they wait to catch me when I started shadowing him outside? But there's also the possibility that they found the secret place after I got out of there" he said, dueling with himself, weighing up his options.

Eventually, he realized that if he wanted to get information about that person, he would have to go back. Otherwise, the entire training would be in vain.

Even if he came back and told Prithvi about it, until the time when they had no evidence against the head of the Eastern zilla, they would not be able to take him to the queen.

And the enemy will make enough preparations by then to hide his tracks.

Hoping that his captors would believe that he escaped and not dare to return, Ramanujam waited until nightfall before walking into the dilapidated building that used to be the office of Cakra Suraksha.

One of the many secret entrances to the basement of the forest is through a hole a few meters away from the back door of the building.

The hatch lay flat on the ground and looked like a thick grass. Actually, the grass had been stuck in the wings to blend with the surroundings.

Ramanujam crouched low while looking for a lever to press and release the key. He scanned his surroundings but everything seemed silent and peaceful.

Slowly, he removed the hatch completely and slipped down before bringing it over his head, returning to its original position.

He heard the sound of a hook slipping back into place. At this hour, it sounded very loud. This is the time of calculation.

If there is someone here waiting, Ramanujam is the most vulnerable at the moment. He stood upright at the top of the stairs leading to the basement. The place smelled musty, giving him the assurance that it seemed like no one had ever been here recently.

However, he did not move from his position. He was in a favorable place that would give him a good position to be able to hit the enemy, if anyone was lurking in this place. Ramanujam's kurta pocket was laden with sharp stones that he carried from the forest.

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Suraksha Chakra Building, East Zilla

Under such circumstances, Ramanujam would be impossible to enter here without a weapon, no matter how weak it might be.

It had been over twenty minutes but Ramanujam maintained his position. He was a patient and cautious man as well.

Even though there seemed to be no one here, he wanted to wait for his enemy and make sure it was safe to get down to that place. Just as he was about to raise his leg to take the first step, he froze. He had heard a rustling sound very close to where he was standing.

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Gurukull, Chandragarh

It is time to announce the second stage. Everyone gathered in the corridor outside the dean's office waiting for the list of ten shortlisted candidates to be issued.

Although Mriga's exam went well, she was nervous because her 20% component was school achievement. He has always been a good allrounder but has never been a top three student academically.

He also had no special relationship with his teacher. He was a respectful and cheerful student, but he was worried that no one would stand out in his profile to get a high score in that part.

He did not discuss this with any of his friends because he knew that he could not make any difference, so there was no point lamenting about it.

Unbeknownst to him, he clenched and released his hands while standing among the hordes of girls, crowding around the place. He didn't know when, but the idea of being a QIT was no longer foreign to him, it was no longer just a competition to win.

A few days ago, he found himself judging his class mates in terms of their strength and inclination, if they were to be included as his royal team in the future.

He had slapped himself for thinking far ahead at that moment.

Suddenly a warm clap on his shoulder made him turn towards the person who came and stood beside him.

Vaishali gave Mriga a small but sincere smile before letting go of her hand. Back then, the infantryman almost had to fight his way through the people to reach the wall where he put up the list before fleeing from there.

As the place looked like a stampede waiting to happen, Mriga shifted slightly to near the pillar on the side. No need to rush, the list will remain there all day! He looked around and saw that Vaishali, due to her strong stature, was able to pave the way for herself and reach that place.

"Do you not want to know your results?" Yash's voice from the other side of the pillar turned Mriga's gaze away from his competitors.

"Oh, you are brave enough to come here when you are not even a participant," Mriga grinned and shouted amidst the frenzy.

"I think I'm very curious to know the result" he said with a sour grin.

Actually, he spoke only half the truth. He did come here because he wanted to make sure that Mriga was qualified or not. Depending on that, he will decide whether to react to Vindhya's qualification.

When she met her mother the previous day, she finally told me about the conversation she had heard between Vindhya and the other contestants.

Her mother's disappointed face made her feel relieved. That means he won't support the girl. But he did not push Mriga's name in front of him back then. He would do it now if Mriga finished this round.

Her mother advises her to hold on to the truth about Vindhya if it does not affect the person she cares for. He tells her to use it if and when a need arises at a later date. He also told her to look for the girl who had been threatened, to be able to support her claim.

Yash has agreed, as long as Mriga clears the stage today. Otherwise, he would cause a huge commotion and ensure that the results were declared invalid, despite his mother's warnings and lack of evidence.

He stood upright from the pillar and walked over, cutting through the crowd. Mriga bit her lip in worry. He looked a little aggressive today which was not part of his nature for the years he knew him.

After a few minutes, Yash returned without the black aura surrounding him earlier.

He grinned from ear to ear as he said,

"Good luck for the third stage, Mrignayani."

Mriga's face split open happily as she accepted his words. Before he could respond, another voice spoke next to him.

"Congratulations. See you in the next round," Vaishali's words sounded like a challenge, but she had a small smile on her face as she said this.

Mriga responded well by congratulating him before moving on from there. Yash was thinking hard on his way home.

Mriga's name was at the bottom of the page and she almost missed seeing him after angrily seeing Vindhya appear on the list. But right now it doesn't matter to him.

It's time to find another girl, who didn't make it!

Abhirath paced nervously on the road to the dean's office. He tells himself to believe in Mriga's ability but still the worry will not go away from him.

"Damn it! I should have gone in with him" he murmured to himself.

"He has completed the round. Don't worry too much," Vaishali's light voice made Abhirath look at her in surprise.

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Morning, Himprayag

Bela had bid her farewells to the military personnel and the princess the night before. He wanted to leave as quickly as possible to be able to hand the scroll over to Prithvi.

He knew that the stamped scroll would return with the official court officer Chandragarh the tone of which was presented officially to the royal palace of Himprayag. But he wanted to accompany them. He somehow felt uneasy with Ahilya and Rudradev.

Bela stood inside Shaurya's room in the hut where she carefully folded the clothes they had so painstakingly pulled, into a tight roll.

These fabric rolls would be pushed through the small hollow bamboo stalks he had prepared earlier.

Although it would add to the burden Bela carried, they wanted to make sure that in the event of rain or other conditions, the records were not broken on the way back with Bela.

"You cannot forget even a second that you are the official representative of Chandragarh for the next. You can't make any missteps in my absence. The impact of the previous one is still felt by us. Otherwise, before I return, you might find yourself inducted into Princess Ahilya's personal harem. And that would be the best-case scenario" he said grimly.

A horrified expression spread across Shaurya's face, making him pale.

"I promise to be ever vigilant, Guruji. Sorry for causing trouble before," he said solemnly.

Bela nodded her head, looking at her sincerity. He knew that the trigger was not his fault. No one could predict the princess' reaction to him. But, as spies, they should be as low as possible in their field of work.

Roughly asking one's attention to oneself can only lead to loss, as is the case in this case. But it's too late to cry over spilled milk.

After saying goodbye to her, Bela left from there. He did not dare to send any message to Raghu all this time.

One, he wants communication between him and Chandragarh to be minimal and more importantly, in the worst of circumstances, he does not want his background to be revealed as he believes their communications should be monitored by Himprayag's spy unit.

He sighed at the thought of the silly man who must have been secretly desperate for being alone at home.

Then he wondered about how his daughter was doing in QIT. His face was smiling at the thought of seeing Mriga before nightfall.

The trip to Chandragarh takes about 8-10 hours, depending on the speed of the horse and the stop made by the carriage.

With the official scroll weighing down on his body, Bela did not want to ride a horse and preferred to ride a carriage.

He finds someone willing to travel with him as the only passenger and travels nonstop except for the necessary rest for the horse, in exchange for a larger sum of money.

Rudradev was walking through the corridor where his family portrait was hung, when his man carrying Bela's report left the place. He smiled at himself and looked at the image of his ancestor, Abhaidev on the wall.

With a calm expression on his face, no one could see what was in his head.

Rudradev gestured for his informant to leave and looked at his ancestor,

"Almost there!"

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eastern zila

Ramanujam froze at the sound of rustling, thinking of someone who was already standing so close to him. But within seconds, he realized that it was impossible. He would feel that person's presence in this much time. That means there's something else here. As soon as the thought crystallized in his head, a cold scaly body crept over his feet.

Had his mind not processed the possible presence of the surrounding beast a few seconds ago, he would have reacted with a jolt, causing the snake to probably coiled around and sting him.

Thankfully, he managed to stand motionless and exhale only after he did not hear any more sounds.

Carefully moving in the opposite direction to the snake, Ramanujam used his hand as a guide to look for small diyas and burning sticks, which were kept in all corners of the room. Because it was pitch black here, he did not want to be careless anymore with the dangerous reptile present.

After the room is partially lit, Ramanujam's first task is to prepare a secret message for Prithvi. He wasn't sure when he could send it but he kept it ready.

Next, he went and checked every listening device in the room to see if he could hear anything. Unfortunately, everything is quiet at this hour.

Suddenly, he saw the uninvited guest poking his head out of a place he might be staying. Ramanujam thought for a moment and went to look for a bag or a piece of thick cloth. Twenty-five minutes later, he was covered in sweat but was holding a writhing body in his hand.

Looking at the gap like the snake's eyes, he realized that he had managed to escape some time ago. This was a poisonous black snake that was clearly visible from the shape of its eyes.

Holding it, Ramanujam quietly opened the door under the ground leading to the opening from the basement to the building above. He threw the snake to the ground and did not linger there for even a second before closing the lid safely back into place.

The top of the trapdoor was formed in the form of tiles on the ground and it was impossible to distinguish it from the others unless one knew its location from before.