NOVEL NEXT Kidnapped
As Esdeath sat in her seat, she waited patiently for the train to start moving. Eventually, the train's wheels began to turn slowly, the rumble of the engine filling the air. Esdeath let out a sigh of disappointment.
"I guess I'll have to go out and slap her for making the trip late," she muttered to herself, already planning to jump off the train before it gained too much speed.
She stood up and walked toward the train's door, ready to leap out. But just as she reached the door, her eyes caught sight of Maruti, running frantically toward the train, her large breasts bouncing as she sprinted.
Esdeath finally felt a bit of relief. "Phew, you're finally here. Take my hand!" she called out, extending her arm toward Maruti.
Maruti picked up speed, running as fast as she could to catch up with the moving train. She reached out, grabbing Esdeath's hand just in time. With a firm pull, Esdeath hoisted Maruti onto the train.
As soon as she was safely aboard, Maruti doubled over, gasping for air. She had been running for a while to make it to the station on time. "Cough... cough..." Maruti sputtered, still catching her breath. She hurried to the opposite door to spit, clearly exhausted.
Esdeath said nothing, though she was about to scold her for being late. But before she could turn around, her eyes caught sight of something else—three more people were desperately running toward the train, trying to make it before it left the station.
"Oh, I guess today is my day for doing good deeds!" Esdeath smirked, extending her hand toward the approaching figures. "Take my hand! I'll pull you up!" she shouted.
The three runners, grateful for her help, smiled with relief. One by one, they grabbed Esdeath's hand, and with her strength, she pulled them onto the train with ease.
All three of the men Esdeath had helped onto the train were tall, middle-aged, and dressed in casual clothes. Despite their size—each of them standing at least six feet five inches tall—they seemed surprisingly light when Esdeath pulled them up. Even though she was tall herself, Esdeath barely reached their shoulders. Oddly, unlike Maruti, the men didn't even seem winded. It was as if they hadn't used up any stamina at all.
"Dhanyavaad (Thank you)," one of the men said, placing his large hand on Esdeath's shoulder.
Esdeath frowned, confused. "What did you just say?" she asked, not understanding a word of it. "Whatever, we're done here," she muttered, brushing it off as she turned back toward Maruti.
Maruti had finally stopped coughing and turned to face them. But as soon as her eyes landed on the three men inside the train, her expression changed drastically. Her eyes widened in shock, and her mouth hung open slightly.
Without saying a word, Maruti quickly sat down in her window seat, her eyes glued to the outside as if trying to avoid the situation.
Esdeath was confused by Maruti's reaction. She sat down in front of her, also on the window side, and glanced back at the men. To her annoyance, the three men casually took seats as well—two sitting beside Maruti and the other beside Esdeath.
Esdeath's temper flared. She shot up from her seat, glaring at the men. "Yo! Misters, just because I helped you get on the train doesn't mean you can take our seats! Get up!" she shouted.
But the men didn't respond. They sat there as if they hadn't heard her.
Esdeath turned to Maruti, still confused. "Hey, they're not listening. You deal with that one, and I'll beat up this one!" she said with a smirk, ready to fight.
But Maruti's expression was dull, lacking any of her usual energy. "I think you should let them sit," she replied quietly, avoiding eye contact.
"What?" Esdeath blinked, completely puzzled.
Then, one of the men stood up. He placed his hand on Esdeath's shoulder, and in a calm voice said, "Bahot bolti hai tu (You talk too much)," pressing down on her shoulder with surprising force.
In an instant, Esdeath found herself slammed back into her seat. "Such strength," she gasped in shock. She hadn't expected that level of power from a simple touch.
Swiftly, she slid sideways in her seat, turning to Maruti with an uneasy smile. "Do you know who these guys are?" she asked, her confidence shaken for the first time.
Maruti gave an uneasy smile, like she was trying to hide her mistake. "They were sent by my father. I didn't realize that the girl whose body I'm possessing had run away from her marriage and came here to the academy to hide. Since their power can't reach into the academy, they've been waiting for me to step outside. I barely escaped them, but thanks to your 'heroic deed,' now we're kidnapped," she said with a hint of annoyance.
Esdeath blinked, realizing she had extended her hand and helped them onto the train without knowing who they really were.
"Why don't we just fight them? What if we have a chance to win?" Esdeath asked, still thinking of a way out.
Maruti sighed. "They're concealing their aura, but all three of them are Rank C Awakened."
"Oh... crap," Esdeath muttered under her breath. A single Rank C Awakened was nearly impossible to beat, let alone three of them. The chances of winning were basically zero.
"We can talk to each other freely though," Maruti said, "they don't understand our language."
Esdeath was still puzzled, but she couldn't accept defeat that easily. She quickly got up, determined to try something else. In the middle of the moving train, she went to find help.
A few moments later, Esdeath returned with a man in tow. "Sir, these two guys don't have tickets and they're threatening us!" she said sweetly, putting on her best innocent act.
The man she brought was the ticket checker. Wanting to look impressive in front of Esdeath, he immediately got fired up. Marching toward the three men, he grabbed the collar of one of them. "Hey! Threatening innocent girls? You better get off at the next station, or else!" he shouted, his voice full of anger.
Esdeath watched the scene unfold with a sly smirk. "Hehe... Ticket checkers are legal enforcers. Attacking him will be considered a huge crime. There's no way they'd risk breaking the kingdom's rules!" she thought, confident in her plan.
But to her shock, the next moment, a loud **BAM** echoed through the train.
Esdeath's eyes widened in horror as she saw the man whose collar the ticket checker had grabbed swing his fist. His punch landed squarely on the ticket checker's face, and with one brutal strike, the man's face exploded like a balloon, blood spraying everywhere—even splattering across Esdeath's face.
"Ahhh! He killed him!" passengers screamed in fear, and chaos erupted as people began running toward different sections of the train.
Esdeath stood frozen for a second, her mind racing as the situation spiraled out of control.