The Executed Sage Reincarnates as a Lich and Begins a War of Aggression

“Okay, everyone’s here! Then let's get right to it—”

I heard Henry's voice in the distance.

I let my gaze wander over from atop the balcony.

Henry was at the training grounds.

He was standing in front of a row of demons, explaining something to them.

He was gesturing something and making the occasional ‘bow drawing’ motion.

Apparently, he was giving a lecture on marksmanship training.

Henry had bid for becoming instructor a few days ago.

He was an excellent archer.

If he teaches my subordinates, they can hope to improve their skills.

Long-range attacks are important on the battlefield.

They are often perceived as inferior to magic, but the truth was the opposite.

There is no incantation involved, and with practice, anyone could use it.

An arrow is silent from the time it is fired, until it hits the target.

Unlike magic, it is difficult to detect one without visual cues.

By firing a volley of attacks in unison in large numbers, it was possible to launch a one-sided attack.

In some cases, it would be much more than just checkmating the opponent.

By strengthening arrows with magic, their power can be greatly increased.

In general, it was a weapon with many applications.

Since there were many people in the Demon Lord's army who could not use magic, the increase in archers would go a long way in consolidating our battle strength.

As long as Grom and I protect them, it won't be a problem, but if they always get by with that, they will surely suffer some day.

Having them learn to use bows now would be the best solution for the future.

As I listened to Henry's lecture, there was a knock on the door of my room.

“Demon Lord, may I come in?”

“Yeah, no problem.”

“Excuse me.”

A succubus entered the room.

It was not Luciana.

It was her direct subordinate.

The succubus placed a stack of papers on the desk and then promptly left the room.

I left the balcony and checked the documents.

They described the state of control of each location, the improvements needed for life in the royal capital, the facilities that they wanted, and so on.

They are compiled in a report that was neither too small, nor too long.

Luciana should have been overseeing the template for the various documents.

Her training seems to have been scrupulous.

Recently, an increasing number of people had requested to work at the castle.

Surprisingly, there were a lot of people who weren’t good at fighting or simply preferred clerical work.

Now that the activities of the Demon Lord's Army had become more and more diverse, I was thankful for them.

We can't simply keep on invading.

We needed someone to coordinate the odds-and-ends.

I digress, but the management of the widespread miasma was also thorough.

Currently, the miasma was stored in the basement of the castle.

This arrangement was to prevent health hazards to my subordinates.

The concentration of the miasma has become quite high, so we will have to figure out another method of storing it in the near future.

I sat down on the couch and went through the documents that had been brought in.

There's not much to do at this time of day.

It would be better to do some paperwork first.

The Demon Lord's Army sure has become much more stable…

It had been almost fifty days since I took Henry under my command.

The invasion within the country was going well.

We already controlled more than eighty percent of its territory.

The Demon Lord's army was repeatedly attacking various places while making full use of transfer magic.

There was no particular struggle.

Even if I didn’t do anything, the demons would end up overwhelmingly overrunning the enemy.

The corpses that piled up became undead, and became my new subordinates.

Henry was also very active in this.

A noteworthy point is still his sniping from a very long range with his prized bow.

As an ally, he was extremely reliable as he penetrated the opponent's defence magic and shot and killed their commanders one after another.

After utterly throwing the enemy forces into chaos, Henry brings along the demons for melee combat.

This was to show off his unparalleled hand combat ability to the fullest.

No one was able to match his assault, and the soldiers would be tragically eliminated.

The demons in the vanguard always looked at him with respect.

I dare say he might be more revered than me.

The document also mentioned the small country that had been destroyed.

The neglected territories were said to have been usurped by the neighboring countries.

They were said to have absorbed them and run them as if they were their own.

Some countries were said to have occupied the mining areas and were quickly generating profits.

All their setups were going too smoothly.

This was a move that would not have been possible without knowing about this development from before.

I thought they were going to use the small country as a sacrifice to wear down the Demon Lord's army, but apparently that was not the case.

It seems that their goal was to destroy the small country by making it lock horns with the Demon Lord's army and then take away their territory and resources.

It really was foolish.

The surrounding countries were a lot more optimistic than I had imagined.

They seemed to look down at the new Demon Lord.

At best, they saw it as somebody else’s problem.

If anything, they were using us as a trap for the small country to fall into.

We had already figured out which countries were pulling the strings behind the scenes, thanks to the information gleaned from the leaders of the small country.

They intended to invade the moment we conquered it internally.

I want to destroy this joke of a tendency of theirs.

We must instill extreme despair in those laid-back ones who haven't yet learned a sense of impending doom.

They perceived the threat of a new demon Lord as a transient one.

The conceit from humanity's victory ten years ago was apparent.

Or do they have a plan that could be used against me?

There was no indication that the world's technology had advanced much during the decade of my absence.

However, that is, in general, only part of the story.

It was not inconceivable that there be countries that had expressly made preparations in anticipation of the Demon Lord's resurrection.

Because I was undead, I would inevitably have weaknesses haunt me.

I was as close to immortal as I could get, but I was neither all-powerful nor invincible.

If I grew too conceited, chances are, I could be killed.

That must never happen.

I am the cornerstone of world peace.

For that reason, I made sure to train myself to use my power to the fullest.

Because my standard of magic was far different from what it was when I was alive, it was possible for me to use techniques that exceeded human knowledge.

Through trial and error, I was expanding the range of what I could do, every day.

As I was finishing up going through the documents, I heard chaotic footsteps coming from outside the room.

There was someone approaching me.

I immediately knew who it was.

“……”

I bunched up the papers together and set them aside.

At the same time, the door was flung open.

“Demon Lord! This is bad!”

It was Grom who showed up.

He kneeled in front of me, as if it were natural, and brought up the topic while trembling.

“I-I have something to report…”

“What's happened?”

I pondered as I questioned him.

It must be quite the predicament for Grom to be so distraught.

His reactions were regularly exaggerated, but there was something a little different this time.

It is certain that this is not good news for the Demon Lord's army.

Has there been any such cause for concern in the recent past?

I can't think of any.

If so, there was no doubting it must be an unexpected problem.

“Ah, um… actually, um…”

For some reason, Grom was hesitant to speak up.

He was about to say something and then stopped as he shook his head.

It was unusual for him to hesitate so.

I was becoming more and more unsure of my suspicions.

Despite my burning curiosity, I didn’t rush Grom and waited.

It was obvious that talking to him now would cause him to wither even more.

If so, it would be better to wait for him to get into a state where he could talk calmly.

After a momentary conflict, he reported with a weak whisper that seemed as if it would disappear.

"A Hero— a Hero with a holy sword is fighting against our invasion…”