Chapter 6 The Sixth Day

Six days later.

On the western side of Demon King City, in the grand McCarthy Manor on Lis Island, Rance began his new day while the sky was still a deep blue.

In his bedroom on the top floor of the mansion, a lavishly decorated and meticulously furnished room, the tender voice of Cat Boss echoed, along with the sound of the sea waves outside the window.

"Today is the twenty-eighth day since you came to this Shadow World."

"The news from the Bliss Kingdom front line and the Polant Empire is not optimistic."

"And as a small Rance, the only thing you can do is use your charm to complete your mission in the Demon World."

Cat Boss began its daily broadcast again.

"Alright, Cat Boss, I got it."

Rance gently pressed Cat Boss's head, walked across the carpet, and came to the closet near the entrance of the spacious bedroom.

He carefully selected his outfit.

In the end, he chose a dark gray Protos-style suit with silver patterns embroidered on the tie, perfectly tailored to look both formal and dignified.

"A tribute to the legendary Sealing Master Ascesan, this dark gray coat is really nice."

The mirror reflected Rance's slightly smiling face, his eyes sparkling with determination and a desire for today's goals.

"Meow, he might not want your tribute."

Cat Boss hopped to Rance's feet, looked at him, and felt that Rance's aura of a Radiant Devil, combined with Ascesan's style of dress, really made him look like a cardinal.

Unfortunately, Rance was still too far from being a true cardinal-level figure.

"He doesn't mind."

Rance commented.

"..."

Cat Boss didn't want to continue Rance's words.

It only cared about their scoreboard again, poking it from time to time.

[Public Sentiment: 276→565/1000 (Public support and cohesion)]

[Parliament: 227→176/1000 (Support rate of high-level officials within the Polant Empire)]

[Military Strength: 124→182/1000 (Referenced against the Huning Empire)]

[Finance: 236→323/1000 (Current productivity of the Polant Empire)]

[Diplomacy: 115→232/1000 (Diplomatic relations with the Demon World and surrounding countries that have not yet surrendered)]

[Overall Odds: 0.0013%]

Cat Boss now stared at it several times a day, afraid it would fall.

Thanks to Rance's unremitting efforts, the odds finally showed a number.

But it was still incomparably far from 1%, and the distance made it feel despair.

Since Rance left the Polant Empire, [Public Sentiment] was still rising, and the rate of increase was getting faster and faster.

The [Parliament] item was still slowly declining.

Perhaps because of the extremely successful diplomacy with the Orc city-states, each city-state added about 20 to [Diplomacy].

At the same time, it seemed that because of the diplomatic alliance, the alliance's [Military Strength] and [Finance] were improved.

Since Rance himself had not yet revealed in the Demon World that he belonged to the Polant Empire and the anti-Blood Clan forces, the connections he had made in the Demon World were not yet settled in the [Diplomacy] item.

Twenty-eight of the forty-five days in the Shadow World had passed, and this progress made Cat Boss nervous.

Success or failure could be said to be today!

"Rance meow, you must rescue Hyberia!"

The little black cat urged.

Today's royal ceremony would be related to Hyberia's freedom.

In addition to the great demon clans of the current Demon World competing for royal marriage partners, Marquis Ulixes, the tenth progenitor of the Blood Clan, also wanted to intervene and marry the Demon Clan's only remaining royal family member.

The ceremony did not require painting on the spot. Painting on the spot was time-consuming and difficult to predict. Fallen Princess wanted the great demon clans to choose their favorite scenes to paint, and submit them before the ceremony finalized the string sound. The paintings would be submitted to the sealed golden cabinet on the first floor of the Regent's Hall in the palace, and she, the Fallen Princess, would open and judge them fairly at today's ceremony, allowing the princess to publicly choose her favorite painting.

Now it could be said that the string sound had been finalized, waiting only for the unveiling of the result at the ceremony, and the ceremony would come to an end.

When the princess looked at the paintings, she did not know who had created them.

This was a blind selection.

At that time, the Fallen Princess would naturally judge who the magic power on the painting belonged to, and determine the time the painting was completed based on the nature of the magic power.

"Don't worry, I painted with all my strength this time."

Rance picked up the little black cat on the ground and said to it confidently.

"Meow meow."

Cat Boss knew that Rance had locked himself in his room for most of the week, except for necessary meetings with the Demon World's dignitaries.

But it didn't see what Rance painted specifically.

After finishing the painting, he sealed it up and, with the help and guidance of a close minister, sent it directly to the sealed golden cabinet in the Regent's Hall on the first floor of the palace.

According to him, he wanted Hyberia to see it first.

Although Cat Boss had seen Rance's paintings, it hadn't carefully appraised them when they were in the Northern Continent before Rance snatched it away. In the Southern Continent, it didn't dare to appraise them and ran away. This time, it wanted to take a good look at what level of art Rance had created.

If it was a work of art, it had full confidence in Rance, this wicked kid. As long as the great demon clans and the tenth progenitor didn't create a divine-level work of art, it believed that Rance would win!

The man and the cat went downstairs, and breakfast was already prepared in the huge McCarthy Palace restaurant.

Rance sat down at the table by the floor-to-ceiling window, thinking about the upcoming schedule, his eyes occasionally gazing through the window at the eclipse's deep purple sky and the dim sea.

Today, due to the visit of the Blood Clan progenitors, Demon King City Nicalis also opened the barrier sky.

Of course, the main venue for the royal ceremony was in Nicalis Palace. For the Blood Clan, even during the day, there was no difference in the sturdy interior, let alone the Demon World Palace with a protective barrier.

Before long, Rance finished breakfast. He put down his cutlery, wiped the corners of his mouth with a napkin, adjusted his tie, and stood up to take the coat handed to him by the butler.

The sun had not yet dawned outside the window, and the sun's route was blocked by the blood moon. The light on the eastern horizon became hazy, and the entire Demon King City seemed to be shrouded in twilight.

Just as Rance walked to the door of the palace hall, ready to push the door open and leave, he heard a rustling of footsteps behind him. Rance turned his head.

He saw Sigrid, still wearing her sleeping cap and sleepy-eyed, running over to see him off.

"Loki, have a good trip."

She rubbed her eyes and waved her little hand.

Sigrid had already used a card-like mysterious magic item that Rance had given her to become a demon.

She looked like a pure wolf demon.

"Thank you for helping me watch the house."

Rance said to her.

Sigrid was silent for a while.

"I feel like today is very dangerous... two terrible blood clans have come to the Demon World capital... you have to be careful."

Sigrid's sleepiness gradually dissipated, and her eyes clearly became a little uncomfortable and worried. Although she didn't want to wrinkle Rance's freshly ironed coat, she gently tugged at his hem.

The cunning blood clans would often not just make a simple trip.

They had infinitely sufficient capital to gamble, filling their ever-unsatisfied pride and desires.

She remembered that last time, on an ordinary peaceful day, she had sent her father off like this in the morning. She thought her father would be back early, bringing her gifts, playing with her, and telling her stories.

And that was the last time she saw her father.

"I know, thank you."

Rance squatted down and looked at her, saying.

"Come back early."

She nodded.

Rance smiled at her, waved goodbye, and walked out of the mansion.