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

Staff members in white coats were lined up beyond the door.

They looked at me and Grom, and then greeted us.

“Welcome to our establishment, O’ Demon Lord! We, the staff, deeply appreciate your presence!”

The director, who happened to be a woman, greeted us cheerfully.

She was a young, glasses-wearing magician who had a seemingly unreliable smile on her face.

When combined with the freckles on her cheeks, it gave an overall impression of naivete.

At a glance, she didn’t look dependable enough to be in charge of the Laboratory in the Demon Lord’s territory. However, she was actually a very talented magician.

She had quite a special background.

She had worked at a magic workshop in the Imperial Capital up until two years ago. Not only did she research forbidden spells without permission, but she also spent a large amount of research funding for that. This resulted in her demotion.

The location she was demoted to was one of the locations the Demon Lord’s Army invaded; she was eventually caught and imprisoned.

Thanks to her capabilities, she was currently entrusted as the chief executive officer of the research institute within the Demon Lord Territory.

She was a pretty weird person, to say the least.

Most of the staff members had their own personal quirks.

They volunteered to work here to further their research.

All of them possessed abundant magical knowledge, and had no preference or prejudice regarding race, gender, age, etc.

They were all devoted to their research, especially with the abundant resources given to them.

I received a regular report which stated that they were very satisfied with the treatment they received.

“Guide us around now.”

“Roger that! This way please!”

We proceeded according to the director’s lead.

There were several small gates beyond the entrance.

They were large enough for around one human to get through.

Demons and demi-humans with large statures would be cramped in them.

“This gate will allow entrance through magic power authentication. It will refuse entry to everyone except the people who are already registered in it. If they ignore this and attempt to proceed, an alarm and interceptor device will be activated.”

“Ho hou, that’s convenient.”

Grom stroked his chin, impressed.

The technology of magic power authentication came from some of the documents we had stolen from the Imperial Capital.

It was listed as one of the possible crime prevention plans.

However, since this plan had been only theory on paper then, I built the basis for this technology.

I left it to the laboratory after that, but it seemed they had managed to firmly adopt it into workable equipment.

This laboratory handled a large number of confidential documents.

All of them were forbidden to be taken out from the premises and, in a sense, more important things were stored here compared to what was stored in the capital.

Therefore, Luciana had to deeply investigate the identities of the staff to prevent any possibility of an intelligence agent from another nation getting mixed in.

It would be very troublesome if the research contents of this facility were to be taken out of the nation.

Currently, there weren't ’t any reports regarding spies.

“Both of your Magic powers have already neem registered, so you don't need to worry.”

The director went through the gate as she said that.

There weren't any signs of anything activating.

Grom and I also followed in.

The entrance was so small that Grom’s head and shoulders hit its borders, but he somehow managed to fit himself in.

The inside of the laboratory was kept clean.

There was no dust within the white corridor.

Since it was also well organized, it didn’t feel cluttered.

It was quite the functional environment.

Additionally, there were numerous magic tools discreetly installed in several places.

They were there to detect suspicious magic usage and intruders.

This made it possible to immediately detect abnormal situations.

Perhaps that entrance gate was merely there as a diversion.

The real prevention methods were those hidden magic tools all around the place.

They were all precisely installed.

With all this equipment , it would be near impossible to steal any of the things inside unless they used some kind of crude method like transferring the whole laboratory elsewhere.

Also, that was an unrealistic method which only someone who was at my level could do.

The director stopped in front of a room and unlocked it with a key.

She then invited us to enter.

“This is a gun storage room. We also made it so you could test-fire the weapons.”

As soon as I entered the room, the ceiling light turned on.

There were metal shelves lined there, with guns and bullets stored inside.

It looked similar to the prototype I had robbed from the empire, but there were modifications.

It seemed that they were in the stages of iterating improvements and production trials.

The director lovingly stroked one of the guns.

“Well, the guns are great. I’m sure it would be the next generation's primary weapon of choice.”

“This pea-shooter as a primary weapon? It doesn't look like it…”

Grom suspiciously picked up a bullet.

He was an undead who preferred magic and miasma-based combat, and he could fight an army alone.

That was why he doubted the practicality of guns.

In fact, even if he got hit by hundreds of bullets he wouldn’t die.

The director began to explain the practicality of guns to an unconvinced Grom.

“It would appear like that for Grom-sama, but this is a powerful weapon which can be used by common soldiers. Unlike magic and bows, they can be used without much training and aptitude and could still kill humans from a distance.”

“Uhm, I can’t deny that.”

Grom grumbled as he couldn’t argue with that reasoning.

The director’s opinion was correct.

For humans without any magic aptitude, an easy, ranged method of attack was valuable.

And these guns were a new option for it.

It was much easier to aim than a bow.

“Would you like to try shooting one?”

“Ah, please.”

I received the proffered gun.

It had two barrels and two triggers.

It seemed to have been designed to allow fir two shots in a row.

At that moment, one side of the wall opened and revealed a space hidden within.

There, pieces of armor and shields were installed in varying locations.

All of them had holes or dents.

These seemed to be practice targets for shooting.

“Hm…”

I studied the gun and understood its structure.

The mechanism itself was quite simple.

It wasn’t too different from the prototype.

It seemed that they focused on improving the accuracy and ease of use.

I aimed at one of the pieces armor from a distance and pulled the trigger.

Along with a bursting sound, shock ran through my arm.

The fired bullet penetrated the center of the armor.

Its momentum was stopped by the shield behind it.

I fired at a fixed sword next.

There was a dull, metallic sound, and the blade was chipped where the bullet struck.

It had brilliantly pierced through the blade.

“As expected of Demon Lord-sama! What wonderful skill.”

Grom applauded, giving his praise.

It made me a little excited.

He wasn’t interested in guns until just that moment though. Did he gain some interest after witnessing the shooting scene?

On the other hand, the director hesitantly asked.

“How is it? It's the latest model…”

“It’s easy to use. Not bad.”

I answered as I returned the gun.

There had been a clear improvement compared to what I'd taken from the Magic Workshop.

As it was, it could already be used in actual battle.

However, we needed to prepare a certain amount of guns for it to be feasible.

According to memories I gained at the Valley of the Dead, it was better to shoot with a large number all at once.

The increased gunfire would destroy the enemy’s formation.

The guns could be used in a similar way to bows.

Considering that guns were easier to use, it was superior in overall power.

“We would eventually be able to engrave a spell on the bullet itself. We're tentatively calling it a magic bullet, and it would be ideal if a magic bullet could be used accordingly based on situations in the future.”

“…I see.”

I observed the gun that the director was carrying.

I pondered some things as I did so.

The director noticed my gaze and looked down at the gun, slightly puzzled.

“Err, is there any problem? I’ll fix it right away if there is…”

“Do you know the person who invented this gun?”

The director had a surprised expression as she heard my question.

It seemed it wasn't the question she was expecting.

She looked at the ceiling as she went over her memory.

“The inventor was it? He was a male engineer who was temporarily dispatched from the Magic Kingdom. He only stayed for a short time, but came up with many groundbreaking ideas. Most of the prototype weapons brought to the Imperial Capital were invented by him.”

“Do you know the name?”

“Was it John Doe? I think it was something around that.”

The director uttered the name of the person.

It was a name that came up several times in the Magic Workshop’s documents.

Just like what the director had remembered, John Doe had mainly been involved with the development of several weapons.

And he belonged to the Magic Kingdom, the nation which had a secret alliance with the empire.

John Doe… I guess I should have Luciana to investigate him.

I had a feeling this man shouldn’t be left alone.

If the director and the documents were correct, he had the intelligence and imagination needed for the creation of various weapons.

He might not have been a soldier, but without a doubt he could change the flow of war.

Perhaps he was still trying to develop more weapons.

In any case, the Magic Kingdom should be investigated thoroughly.