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

Grom and I walked towards the laboratory.

I didn’t use transfer magic to do so.

I suddenly felt like seeing the cityscape of the Capital.

After all, I usually didn’t have the opportunity to take a closer look.

When I asked Grom about it, he readily agreed.

It must’ve been boring for him, but apparently he didn’t mind.

He seemed to be having fun for some reason, so it should be alright.

I walked through the town after leaving the castle.

There were stalls lined up on the main street.

People came and went with skewers in their hands, as they ate while walking.

If I had a sense of smell, I was sure it would have smelled amazing.

I felt a slight regret for not being able to feel it.

There were elves mixed amongst the people who walked on the street.

There were also places where they got friendly with the demons.

As fellow members of the Demon Lord’s Army, both sides now got along better.

I was happy with that.

“There sure are a lot of people here. To the point we’re not even standing out.”

“It’s proof that the city is developing. That’s good.”

I responded to Grom while looking around.

The population of the Capital was steadily increasing.

Humans from surrounding villages and towns poured in.

Furthermore, it wasn’t uncommon to see groups of demi-humans living in remote villages migrating to the city.

While they were only few in number, demons who’d served the previous Demon Lord were also silently mixed in.

Those who came were mostly those who had suffered from poverty.

There seemed to be rumors that the Capital didn’t discriminate between races and that there was no lack of jobs.

Those who heard the rumors came to seek a stable life.

In fact, the rumors were true.

The Capital was always seeking manpower.

There wasn’t any racial discrimination here.

Basically, anyone was welcome.

The cultivation of various crops was progressing well.

It produced enough for the people living in the Capital to eat their fill.

If it lacked somehow, we only needed to transport food from another city within Demon Lord’s Territory.

If we transported small amounts from various locations, the burden of food wouldn’t be noticeable.

Due to such circumstances, the food situation in the Capital was good.

Even while we accepted many new residents, there were still unused places within the Capital. Most of the sites were simply abandoned, and there was also surplus in other supplies. Those abandoned suburban streets were currently used to store unused undead; it was there in order to prevent an accident regarding the undead. The Capital itself already had sufficient protection due to protection magic and Barrier, so there was no longer any meaning for the undead to patrol around.

I could simply move them if need be.

Considering the city would develop further, we had to consider the location where we would store the undead.

The city would be under stress if nothing was done.

While I already dispatched them in various locations within Demon Lord’s territory, there were still many of them.

There was also the option to drop them all into the Valley of the Dead.

Those undead wouldn’t be wasted and would contribute to increasing my power.

However, I was hesitant to reduce the number of undead that made up the bulk of the main force.

…Anyway, let’s put it on hold for now.

I concluded.

I’ll do something regarding the undead storage area as the city develops.

It wasn’t a problem that needed to be taken care of right now.

I could consult and decide with the executives later.

“Look closely at your opponent’s movement. Otherwise, you’ll die in no time.”

I heard a dashing voice.

It was from the training grounds.

I stopped my feet and peeked.

Henry was instructing his subordinates.

The subordinates carried wooden weapons and faced each other in pairs.

Apparently, they were doing mock combat.

Doldar was also amongst them.

He overwhelmed several demons with a wooden axe.

“Neckk…!”

He repelled the oncoming blade and slammed his fist into the opponent's face.

He avoided the attack from his blind spot and hit with his axe while swiveling round.

He dealt with simultaneous attacks by spinning the axe.

His Axe skills are impressive as expected. Even after death, the name of the “Rumbling Thunder” lives on.

I was impressed by how Doldar fought.

He had retained his skill even after becoming an undead.

Rather, it had become sharper now that he had escaped the limits of flesh.

While Doldar was also strong while he’d been alive, he couldn’t escape the decline of his skill due to age.

It was an inevitable thing as a human.

Even now, I possessed incomparable power compared to when I was still alive.

While I didn’t want to admit it, humans had their limits.

Further growth could only be expected once they were no longer human.

It was something I had realized and experienced personally.

In that respect, Henry was doing well.

While he was human without a doubt, he managed to act as an executive of the Demon Lord’s Army.

I couldn’t help but respect him in comparison, since I only became a Demon Lord due to borrowed power.

“Hey, does the Commander also want to participate?”

Henry noticed us and called out to us.

The subordinates turned nervous as they looked at us.

They clearly withered, and there were also those who were clearly scared among them.

The latter should be a recruit.

They are those who decided to join the army during the span of these 200 days.

Most of them were beastmen.

Their reaction was a natural one to have.

I was a reaper of countless lives.

It was natural to feel scared when faced with such a being.

Ever since I became what I am, I could accurately sense the fear of others.

It was probably because I saw such emotion often.

It was a discovery I had a hard time describing.

Rather, the mock combat was interrupted.

I apologetically responded to Henry.

“I’m sorry, but I have something to do.”

“I see. Well, let’s do it later then.”

“Alright.”

My existence would distract others.

After saying goodbye, Grom and I quickly left the site.

“Grom.”

“Yes! What is it?!”

“Please tell me how you get closer to your subordinates. It would be a hindrance if they got too scared.”

“Hmm, how to get close to subordinates…”

Grom groaned while folding his arms to my question.

Perhaps he’d never thought of it.

He always did what he wanted after all.

Grom made a suggestion after being worried for a while.

“How about trying to serve food? It might serve as an opportunity for interaction.”

“I can only cook preserved food.”

Preserved food only considered the nutrition contained within when they were made.

I often made those during the journey to defeat Demon Lord, but it definitely wasn’t tasty.

It wasn’t something you would actively eat.

In addition, I have no sense of taste in this body, so it made it even worse.

It was hard to be convinced that Grom, who was a fellow undead, could cook exquisite food.

In his case, the “cook” skill was ingrained within, so he could cook without the need of taste.

I should have been capable of learning various skills from the dead within the Valley of the Dead, yet for some reason, I felt nothing like that.

It was either that there was nobody within the Valley of the Dead who was skillful in cooking, or that I had unconsciously denied the opportunity to learn it.

Regardless, I felt regretful about that.

Perhaps he noticed my inner thoughts, for Grom talked in a fluster.

“Le-Leaving aside the cooking, how about trying to converse through small talk? There should be many who want to talk with Demon Lord-sama.”

“Is that so…?”

“Yes, that’s right! If there was an opportunity for dialogue, there should be a long line for people who would like to do so.”

Grom confidently affirmed it.

He might have been trying to encourage me, but to think he could say it with such confidence.

I wonder, on what basis does he think so?

Unfortunately, I had no idea what it was.

We arrived at the laboratory while chatting.

It was located in the middle of an abandoned property in an area off the street in the Capital.

The white-colored three-story building had no windows, which gave the impression of it being closed off.

Considering several buildings had to be demolished to make it, we could see from outside how vast it was.

“It’s somehow exciting.”

“That’s good to know.”

We entered the laboratory after the short exchange.