The next few months passed in a flash, and despite Setsu's attitude, he still served Minos dutifully, not daring to go against his master's commands.
With pretty much all of Suki's wealth invested into buying resources, Minos's cultivation rapidly climbed, from the early stages of the Earth Cloud Layer, towards the late stages.
Of course, given Minos's unique circumstances, he needed hundreds of times the resources a cultivator of the same realm needed, so his cultivation was still a slow crawl.
Fortunately he had kept his cultivation hidden, so neither Setsu nor Suki were aware of what his strength was really like, just knowing he was getting stronger.
Beyond strength, there was also the question of information, which Suki hadn't let him down with.
He wasn't aware of how he had done it, but he had managed to gather thousands of files covering the dozens of competitors who had signed up for the inheritance battle.
The information was even more comprehensive than the stuff he had gotten from the Sharp Claw Agency, giving him a clearer image of who he was up against.
In total, he had 63 other opponents, the majority of which coming from the imperial families.
But the most interesting competitors in Minos's opinion were the other nine-tailed who didn't come from nobility.
There was a common misconception that all nine-tailed were connected to either the royal family or the imperial clans, but this wasn't actually the case.
In rare circumstances, a nine-tailed could be expelled from nobility, essentially reduced to a normal civilian.
They would even lose the right to mate with other nine-tailed, forcing them to dilute their bloodline with 'inferior' breeds.
However, given the strength of the nine-tailed bloodline, even these hybrid children would mostly take on the features of the nine-tailed, sometimes completely indistinguishable from other nine-tailed.
As such, according to the rule of the Nine-Tailed Emperor himself, they could still compete in the inheritance battle, and if powerful enough, re-acquire their nobility.
Of course, beyond their diluted bloodline which often made their talent slightly worse then purebred nine-tailed, they were completely crushed in every other way, from resources, to connections, to knowledge.
Because of that, even though nine-tailed hybrids had competed multiple times in the past, not a single one of them ever managed to make it to the top ten, cementing the so-called hybrid curse.
Minos naturally wasn't curious because of their strength, but rather, because in a way, he was a 'hybrid' as well.
Picking through the dense pile of files, Minos's finger finally came to a stop, pulling a document out.
Flipping it open, a familiar face came into sight, though not of a person he had seen in the past, but rather his own.
The document didn't have much info, just his name, when he arrived in the kingdom, and a few other things.
This was the information his fellow competitors had access to about him, but unfortunately for them, it didn't contain much.
In their eyes, Minos was likely a nine-tailed who was born outside of the Thousand Forest Continent, only coming back to compete in the up-coming inheritance battle.
Such a thing had never happened before, but this was the conclusion drawn given the limited information they had about him.
Little did they know Minos wasn't even a nine-tailed, in fact he didn't even know what he was, but he still felt completely human, and that's all that mattered.
But it was to his benefit that they filled the holes in for him, meaning he didn't even need to try and explain himself, just going along with the story they had perfectly crafted for him.
Tossing the document aside, Minos was about to get back to meditating, but a sudden knock at the door forced him to stop.
"Come in."
"I hope you're ready for tomorrow." Butler Setsu said as he entered the room.
"Always straight to the point, aren't you?" Minos replied with a smile, already used to his attitude.
"My Master has spent his entire life-savings on you, victory is paramount, I can't stress that enough."
"Relax, while placing first is unlikely, becoming an imperial should be completely feasible." Minos said honestly, aware just how strong his competitors were.
"Imperial is the least we ask for, so I hope you're being truthful with yourself… Anyways, Master Suki wanted me to give you this." Butler Setsu said, before handing Minos a new file.
"Oh?" Minos replied curiously, taking the file and immediately opening it as Setsu watched on.
"Interesting… Very interesting!" Minos laughed, tossing the file back to Setsu, which caused his brow to crease.
"This is serious!"
"I'm aware, but what will come will come, we can only do our best."
"This is a Sky-Grade Physique we're talking about, I need better than your best!" Butler Setsu emphasized.
"What do you want me to do? Who could have expected that the sixteenth princess would manage to hide such a thing for so long?"
"... Still, at least look concerned for heaven's sake!"
"Concerned, and then what? I was never looking for victory in the first place, a top ten placement is more than enough."
"Are you still confident to obtain top ten placement even with this?" Butler Setsu asked seriously.
"Less so, but it should still be possible."
"Sigh… Just do what you can, this inheritance battle is looking to be a lot more tough than the one's in the past."
"What is victory with a little challenge to spice it up?" Minos smiled, his words causing Butler Setsu to stare at him with a blank face.
"My concern is really wasted on you, isn't it? Just prepare well, tomorrow is the start of everything…" Butler Setsu said before leaving the room.
As he left, Minos's smile immediately disappeared, his easy-going appearance replaced with one of deep introspection.
'Sky-Grade Physique, huh? Let's hope this is the last surprise…'
…
"How are you feeling?" Tylia asked Minos as they enjoyed breakfast together.
"Hungry." Minos replied as he took another big bite of his sandwich.
"Hmph, you know that's not what I meant!"
"Haha, I'm just joking, but what do you want me to say? That I'm excited, worried, anxious? Truth is, I feel pretty normal."
"Normal?"
"That's right, normal."
"Hmm, well I guess that's better than those other emotions, but aren't you excited at all? This is a huge event!"
"The excitement passed a long time ago, now it's time to perform."
"That's right, so I hope you perform well!" Butler Setsu suddenly said, stepping into the room the same moment his voice arrived.
"We've already been over this, don't worry." Minos replied, taking the last bites of his sandwich before standing up.
"I know, but given your lackadaisical attitude, I feel like I constantly need to remind you!"
"Don't worry Setsu, Minos may seem smiley on the surface, but trust me, no one thinks deeper about things then he does." Tylia quickly said.
"Is that so? Well let's hope so, for all our sakes. Anywho, the carriage is prepared, let's set off."
"Great! The day has finally come!" Tylia said excitedly, leaving her breakfast behind as she ran out the room.
Smiling, Minos waited for Setsu and Tylia's two bodyguards before he followed everyone out, soon arriving at the luxurious carriage.
Stepping on, Minos got seated before Setsu took the reins and set off, the carriage soon exiting the secluded manor grounds and entering the main streets.
As they drove onto the mainroad, it was immediately clear how popular the inheritance battle was, the streets filled to the brim with people cheering excitedly, waving all sorts of flags repping their contender of choice.
Banners hung from rooftops and across buildings, and all sorts of stores were giving out special discounts and deals to celebrate the day.
The beginning of the inheritance battle was a national holiday, otherwise known as Kings Maker Day, a day to celebrate all the past and future kings, and pray that the next one will rule with justice and peace.
This was the most important holiday in the Cat Kingdom, and it showed in the people's attitudes.
But while it was an exciting and joyous day for these civilians, it was incredibly stressful for the competitors themselves, the day that would dictate the rest of their lives.