Night

A crow perched on an open window of the castle, tilting its head as it observed the scene inside. Suddenly, a gentle piano melody echoed through the castle.

Under the soothing piano notes, even the eerie hue of the castle's interior lights softened.

The forest surrounding the castle seemed infected by the piano's sound as well. The restless spirits lurking in the forest's darkness ceased their agitation, some lifting their heads in confusion to listen to the notes that seemed to soothe the resentment in their hearts—soft and warm enough to lull one into a deep sleep.

The crow hopped a few times on the windowsill, initially intending to flap its wings and leave, but it too was moved by the sunlight-warm notes, closing its eyes and choosing to rest briefly on the sill.

"Not a bad lullaby."

Joshua sat on the floor of the room where he had just dined, enjoying the slow-tempo version of Canon that the Bone Duke was playing.

The Bone Duke's dedication to music seemed no less than his devotion to necromancy. After Joshua gave him the score for "Canon," the duke could play it in hundreds of different styles under his performance.

This version was a slow-tempo one meant for sleep. It seemed the Bone Duke still remembered that Joshua was a creature in need of rest.

A fluffy carpet lay on the floor, soft enough to be used as a bed.

In fact, Miss Mage Ciri had already turned that carpet into her bed. Leaning against a pillow embroidered with golden patterns, she had fallen asleep by the fireplace.

The past few days had exhausted Ciri. Her experiences in the Demon Realm could definitely be called thrilling and dangerous. Even though Ciri knew she absolutely couldn't show any sign of being defenseless in front of these demons, driven by fatigue, she had simply dozed off leaning against the pillow in the hall.

Unfortunately, Ciri hadn't let her guard down around Joshua. Joshua glanced at the magic wand she gripped tightly in her hand—at the slightest disturbance, she would wake immediately.

This Miss Mage's light gray hair cascaded down to her shoulders, her cheeks flushed slightly in the firelight.

She looked pretty good when she was quiet.

Joshua had always felt that Ciri had a unique aura, though he couldn't quite describe it. Wild? That didn't quite fit. To put it in less cultured terms, she was a bit fierce.

Someone like Ciri, if placed on Earth, would probably be the type who never wore makeup when going out and wouldn't act spoiled even if she had a boyfriend. But Joshua felt that girls like this were exactly the kind who deserved to be cherished the most.

Ciri had fallen asleep, but Joshua had no sleepiness at all.

Programmer Apes were creatures that didn't need sleep when coding; working overtime was practically routine.

Joshua's job wasn't that grueling, but he often forgot to sleep when coding... As for the reason, Joshua could only say that modifying code wasn't as fun as writing it!

"Zennas, don't you need sleep?"

Joshua's fingers tapped constantly in the air, trying to convert these runic symbols into the programming language he was familiar with.

Being able to see these runes didn't mean Joshua could use them. So far, he had only understood the meaning of about half of them, with the rest still under study.

But that half was enough for Joshua to code a few small things that could run independently of the system.

With his other hand, Joshua picked up a cup of hot red wine from the floor. This working state finally made him feel like he was back on Earth—except on Earth, there wouldn't be a humanoid lion nearly two meters tall standing behind him.

"Your Highness." Since Joshua was sitting on the floor, Zennas knelt down on one knee, hesitating for a moment as if unsure whether to say what came next.

"Just say it straight; I won't mind."

Joshua could tell this Sin Demon had something on his mind. His heart was far more delicate than his appearance suggested.

"I don't oppose your friendly relations with humans, but if you're looking for a spouse, His Majesty will absolutely never agree to you marrying a human." As he spoke, Zennas glanced at Ciri, who was sleeping soundly by the fireplace.

"Cough, cough, cough..."

Zennas's words made Joshua choke on his red wine.

The bloodline of Chaos Demons was extremely rare in the Demon Realm. Combined with the race's pitifully short lifespan and low reproduction rate, the Chaos Demon clan forbade intermarriage with other races in the Demon Realm.

Noble demons in the Demon Realm were out of the question, let alone a human.

"I still have three other siblings. Even if my father wants to continue the bloodline, he won't rely on me. Besides... I already have someone I like."

Joshua set down his cup and lightly swept his other hand through the air. The runes he had written were pulled aside, and then he clenched his fist. The runes instantly coalesced into a whole, forming the shape of a window.

This feeling reminded Joshua of the scene in "Iron Man" where Tony controlled Jarvis.

"Let's drop that topic. Zennas, do you have any faith?"

Joshua took out a wooden statue—the same one Ciri had used to preach to him earlier. He dipped his finger in the red wine and wrote magical runes on the floor beside him, forming a magic circle.

"We demon clans believe in the Sin Flame, the fire of sin and punishment. The more sins our enemies commit, the greater the pain they suffer."

Sparks faintly sprayed from the gaps in Zennas's skin, which resembled magma rock.

Since Joshua wanted to end the topic, Zennas didn't dare to ask "who is the person you already like." Instead, he focused on the small magic circle Joshua was drawing.

"Then, Zennas, you wouldn't mind learning another type of magic, would you?"

The magic used by demons wasn't as structured as human magic. Demons emphasized power and firepower—if they could use an RPG rocket launcher, they would never settle for a Beretta small pistol.

This meant that demon magic didn't rely on runes to construct various functional spells. They simply released their own magic power directly—simple and brutal.

"If this is Your Highness's command..." Zennas said.

"Then put your hand on this statue."

Since Joshua, a demon leader, could believe in God, Zennas had no problem with it. A pale white light surged into Zennas's body, and this ferocious-looking demon successfully converted into a White Magician representing order.

"How many symbols like this do you see?"

Joshua showed Zennas a few of the simplest runes.

"One."

It seemed this brave Sin Demon had no talent in magic. The power he already possessed was enough for him to abandon so-called knowledge.

"Can you see the thing in my hand now?"

Joshua spread his fingers open, and in Zennas's eyes, a white cube was spinning in Joshua's palm.

Zennas nodded to indicate he could see it.

"Then catch."

Joshua flicked his hand and tossed the cube toward Zennas. The cube easily entered Zennas's body without resistance.

This result delighted Joshua immensely. It seemed that no matter how few runes one understood, they could still receive the Rune Program he had written.

After all, when a user uses a program, they can't be expected to learn how to code it first, right?

It appeared that the gods of this world had defined runes in the same way.

Meanwhile, a white square object suddenly appeared in Zennas's field of vision.

"Your Highness... what is this..." Zennas rubbed his eyes, only to find the object still floating in his sight.

"Mm, a chat window. As for its function..."

Joshua tapped his fingers in the air.

'Are you ready for the performance the day after tomorrow?'

A line of text suddenly appeared in the window before Zennas's eyes. He froze, then looked at Joshua.

"Uh... with only one rune, you probably can't reply to me. Looks like I still need to compile an Input Method?"

Joshua realized there was still a long way to go before achieving Internet interaction, even though he was currently using a Local Network.