QT: Against My Will-Chapter 520 - 8.37 - Mean Girls - Monster Heist

The recruits, dressed in military gear and carrying heavy backpacks, were frantically trying to keep up with the recruiter’s demands. One by one, they stepped forward and made their way to the waiting train that would take them to the edge of the barrier.

While Shina Night drew everyone’s attention to her, Elera tried to blend in with the crowd as best as she could. She held her backpack tightly, her eyes downcast as she tried not to catch anyone’s attention.

· · ────────── · ⊱❈⊰· ────────── · · 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Elera looked around the train for a seat, feeling a bit overwhelmed by the crowd of recruits all vying for space. Each compartment had 6 seats arranged in two rows facing each other.

The only available seats were next to questionable groups, compartments with alphas from the top clans or Shina Night, who had sprawled out across three seats, taking up more space than any other recruit on the train. However, there were three more free spaces in Shina’s berth.

’Food Lady?’ Bing Shi waved at Elara enthusiastically. "Hi! I haven’t seen you since graduation. How have you been?" She sat up to create some space in the cabin, patting the seat by her side, "Sit down, sit down."

’What the fuck is wrong with her?’ Elera was weirded out by the female lead’s behavior, but she knew that sitting next to Shina Night was still better than being seated next to the popular alphas, who would only draw more unwanted attention.

Despite her reservations, she decided to take up the offer and sat down at the opposite. Whenever she was with Nathaniel or Victor, she would always receive hateful gazes from the students. Now, people were even afraid to look in her direction.

The train rumbled on, picking up speed and leaving the station behind, Shina Night suddenly stood up from her seat and made her way toward the door of another berth. It was as if she had been suddenly struck by a need to relocate, like a restless ghost in search of a new haunt.

"I’m sleepy," Bing Shi announced, gesturing for Laura, Bertha, and another girl to exchange seats with her.

They scattered out to sit next to Elera without a word as Bing Shi sprawled across the three seats to take a nap. It was getting late, and she needed to get home to her baby boy.

"..." Elera watched Shina’s team members settle in around her, feeling a bit claustrophobic. Did the female lead send them here to pick on her?

Bertha was reading a book on water magic, her fingers tracing over the pages as she immersed herself in the text. "Can you guys keep down the practice? I’m trying to read."

"Sorry, Bertha, I need to stay sharp," Laura was sharpening her knives with a focused expression, her hands moving deftly over the blades. "So, what do you think of the recruits this year?"

"Meh. None of them really stand out." The third girl, whose name Elera didn’t know, sat quietly with her eyes closed. Her dark skin was smooth and flawless while her curly brown hair had an alluring wildness to it.

Suddenly, Laura threw one of her knives at the girl, but she calmly opened her eyes and held up her hand, causing the blade to stop in mid-air.

The girl then flicked her wrist and the knife returned to Laura with a quick thud. "But did you see the girl from the Blackwood clan? She was eyeing us earlier."

Laura smirked. "Oh, really? Do tell."

The girl leaned forward, her eyes glinting mischievously. "She was probably sizing us up as rivals."

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A few men looked around the cabin, sizing up the recruits in search of an empty seat. Bertha’s doe eyes caught the attention of one of them as she looked up from her book.

"Hey, ladies. Mind if we sit here?" The tallest of the deltas asked, a smirk playing at the corners of his lips.

Laura shot him a withering glare. "We’re not interested in having company. The seats are taken."

The man’s expression turned sour. "No need to get hostile, sweetheart. The seats are hard, our laps are much softer. You’ll have a better time sitting on us."

Laura stifled her laughter as she stood up, dozens of knives began to materialize out of thin air, floating around her in a menacing cloud, "If you want to keep your lap intact, I suggest you find somewhere else to sit," she replied coolly, her eyes flashing dangerously.

"Woah, calm down. We’re just being friendly. Don’t get all worked up," The men quickly took a step back, realizing that they had provoked a potentially dangerous magic user, "We’re not just regular recruits, you know. We’re part of the Lycan Assault Division. The elite of the military."

Laura raised an eyebrow. "Is that supposed to impress me?" She looked down at her plain recruit uniform. She had been accepted into the Lycan Assault Division too, and yet she was still wearing the same uniform as every other recruit.

The military often has strict standards and protocols for all recruits to follow, regardless of which division they were assigned to.

The man just grumbled in response, clearly not happy that his attempt to impress Laura had failed. Despite the initial rejection, he refused to give up just yet.

They tried to befriend the girls, striking up a conversation about their backgrounds and experiences, "I’m John, by the way. These are my buddies, Tim and Mike...We are all a part of LAD’s 1st Avalanche Shock Troops."

"Laura Shan, LAD, 4th Apex Logistics Unit," Laura announced, a sly grin forming on her lips as she saw the shock on the men’s faces. "And this here is Aria Nightingale, also a LAD. She will be a part of the 2nd Stormguard Defense Unit."

"And who might be this one?" They eyed the nerdy girl by the window, who caught their attention earlier.

Bertha sighed, closing her book with a snap. She flicked her wrist, causing a small wave of water to enter their nostrils, "Bertha Hamilton, LAD, 3rd Lunar Support and Recovery Unit. Now, leave us alone!"

The men began to choke and gasp for air as Bertha’s water entered their lungs, almost causing them to drown. They quickly backed away and fled to an empty berth.

"Oh no," Aria called out as she saw what berth the men entered. Their Lady was sleeping on the seats so it looked like the berth was empty. Bertha quickly sat down to open her book and Laura put away her knives, trying to act as inconspicuous as possible.

One of the men let out a low whistle. "Looks like we hit the jackpot, boys." As they opened the door, they caught a glimpse of the monkey mask and froze in terror.

They realized they had made a deadly mistake and quickly mumbled their apologies before fleeing the berth, their bravado replaced with fear. One simply wouldn’t try to provoke the most feared recruit on the train, not even by accident.

Shina Night, the enigma extraordinaire, materialized out of the freaking ether! No one had a single clue about her background—like, seriously, zero. But guess what? In the blink of an eye, she had already captured the hearts and minds of the almighty top dogs from St. Moon Academy and the LADs!

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Henry strode through the train, observing the situation with a critical eye as he noticed several recruits trying to curry favor with the strongest alphas.

The recruits who didn’t make it into the LAD would likely end up in the lower ranks of the military unless someone from the LAD made a special recommendation for them.

His attention was drawn to what seemed to be Nathaniel’s berth, which was now covered in a thick layer of ice to prevent anyone from entering, "..."

St. Moon Academy would give their students access to the best of everything, whereas here, something as simple as a private berth was a luxury that one had to create for themselves it seemed.