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

“Eternal life and youth? Of course, I want it. That's an easy question.”

Luciana answered my question without any hesitation.

I posed the same question I had asked Henry to Luciana, who was also an executive.

As for the result, she gave me an answer that was the exact opposite.

Only the two of us were in the audience room at this time. Luciana shrugged her shoulders.

“Obviously, I'd hate to die. If it was possible to live forever, I would choose to do so.”

“That’s quite a straightforward answer.”

“Don’t you think that’s a succubus-like response?”

Luciana proudly responded.

She was always proud of her race and would blatantly show off.

Every word and action of hers was full of confidence.

I heard that there were many people within the Demon Lord's Army who were fascinated by her.

It was more because of her personal charm rather than her racial charm though.

“If I’m going to become immortal, becoming a Vampire would be an attractive choice for me. Naturally, it’s important to not have much difference in physical appearance… Anyway, I won’t die before Demon Lord-sama does, so don’t worry about it.”

Luciana laughed mischievously and poked at my nose with her finger.

And then I came to notice for the first time.

Her motivation was not eternal life itself.

It was her way of caring for me.

It seemed she was reluctant to die before I did.

“I’m sorry to make you accompany me.”

“You don’t have to apologize. Isn’t it too late to say something like that at this point? You don’t have to worry about it since it's a mutually beneficial relationship.”

Luciana sighed after she said so.

She seemed a little disappointed.

I couldn't argue about it, so I shut my mouth.

I couldn’t think of any words to console her.

All I could do was to thank her for it.

Luciana, who couldn’t discern my thoughts, changed the topic.

“Well, leaving that matter aside, there’s a message from the laboratory. It seems that the golem has been analyzed.”

“I see.”

I also shifted the topic of my thoughts.

They said it would take some time, but it was faster than what I'd expected.

It had only been ten days since I had requested them to analyze it.

Perhaps they were so devoted to researching it, to the point that they had forgone their sleep.

After she read the message, she glanced at my direction as she opened the door.

“I have other things to do so I can’t go with you, but please tell me the results later.”

“I understand.”

After seeing me nod, Luciana waved her hand and left the room.

Her words seemed carefree, but she could be considerate to others.

It was an aspect of her I had never noticed during my lifetime as a human.

We were enemies at the time, and would try to kill each other whenever we met.

We sure had a bizarre relationship.

As I was alone, I decided to check the laboratory at once.

I had to check the state of the golem anyways.

Along the way, I talked to Grom and Henry about this development and they decided to come along.

As we arrived at the laboratory's entrance, the director was waiting there for us.

“Demon Lord-sama! Welcome to our place! Please come in.”

She greeted us cheerfully and began to lead us in a hurry.

We proceeded through the entrance check and walked down the corridor. 

It was the first time Henry had visited the laboratory, but the alarm didn’t sound as his magic power was already registered.

Henry looked around with interest as the staff greeted us every time we passed through them.

“We sure feel very welcomed.”

“Of course you do. Demon Lord-sama provided us with a wonderful sample the other day. Our staff was grateful for that.”

There were thick dark circles around the director's eyes, who answered happily.

It appeared that she lacked a considerable amount of sleep.

Yet she was strangely energetic.

It seemed she truly felt the joy of researching, to the point that she didn’t even worry about her own exhaustion.

Even so, I didn’t want them to collapse due to overwork.

I would eventually make it an obligation for staff members of the laboratory to take rest.

Perhaps they would object to it, but I wouldn’t concede on this.

As I was made aware of the unexpected issue, I proceeded to walk down the laboratory.

On the way, Henry asked the director a question.

“I came to see that thing called a gun, but where is it?”

As the director heard that, she approached Henry with a smile.

She held Henry’s hand and shook it vigorously.

“So you are interested in guns! In that case, I’ll ask another person to guide you there! Please try shooting it and experiencing it for yourself!”

The director called out to a passing staff member and instructed them to guide Henry to the gun storage room.

The staff member immediately nodded and led Henry away.

“Commander, I am going to see the guns. I’ll meet up with you later.”

“I understand.”

After seeing Henry off, Grom and I continued to follow the director.

The director walked ahead while talking and looking in our direction.

“What do I say, that golem sure is amazing… It continued to surprise me as out analysis progressed. Was it really manufactured by the Magic Kingdom?”

“There’s no doubt about it. I snatched it away from the Magic Kingdom Army after all.”

It would be impossible for another nation to manufacture it.

I have never heard of any other nation which had a technological level as high as the Magic Kingdom.

“I heard that the analysis was completed, but is it true?”

“Please rest assured. We did everything we could think of, to analyze it. We have achieved some results because of that.”

When Grom asked this question intimidatingly towards the director, she answered while placing her fist on her chest.

However, she didn’t look scared.

It seemed her enthusiasm for research was the real deal.

Eventually we arrived at the room that was our destination. 

It was located on the underground of the laboratory and was separated by a thick steel door.

The director unlocked multiple locks and opened the door.

“Here it is. Please come this way.”

There was a white space beyond the door.

A golem was sitting in the center of the room.

It looked brand new when compared to the state I had brought it in, and several strange parts were attached to it.

Grom immediately ran towards it once he saw the golem.

“Oh! Ooh! It has been beautifully restored!”

“We tried to repair the damaged parts by referencing the existing parts. It lost some of its functions, but it should be able to move at the very least.”

Grom was absorbed in touching the golem as the director gave us a brief explanation.

She looked more excited than usual.

Perhaps she was the one who had looked forward to the result of the golem analysis the most.

She seemed to like its structure a lot.

“Here is the result of the analysis. All the information regarding said golem is recorded here.”

“Fumu.”

I read the document she gave me.

It seemed to explain the performance and internal structure they had investigated, in considerable detail.

As expected, it used a completely different system compared to already existing techniques and designs.

It included many technologies that were only used by the Magic Kingdom.

They seemed to have restored the golem in front of me by using whatever they could've possibly used.

Therefore, things available within the laboratory were used to replace things they were unable to reproduce.

As the director said, it had lost multiple functions, but fortunately, we would still be able to activate it.

What interested me in particular was the sight-sharing function.

There was a small crystal installed inside the golem’s head which functioned as its eyes; that function allowed the technician to see what was reflected in the golem’s vision.

Because of this function, it allowed the technicians to operate the golems as if they were there on-site.

However, there seemed to be a limit to how far it could function from the technician before the function failed in doing its duty.

That was probably the reason why the golems didn’t chase after the escaping soldiers of the Holy Scepter Army.

The golem could only operate effectively within the range where its vision could be shared with the technician.

In a situation where the technician stayed within the fortress, it would naturally limit its range of actions.

It was a surprising weakness for the high-performance golems.

I see…

I fell into a thought after reading the document.

After grasping the whole picture, I asked the director.

“Director, I’d like to hear your personal opinion.”

“…May I say it without reserve?”

“No problem.”

When I gave the director my permission, she made a bitter face as she looked at the golem.

“I can understand its design concept and intention. As much as I hate to admit it, I can only see it as the work of a genius in terms of creativity. However, the technology itself possesses a fatal flaw.”

The director turned the document pages, and pointed to one of them.

She frowned and spoke her complaints.

“First of all, this golem is an unfinished product. The golem Demon Lord-sama snatched from the army might very well be a trial product which was tested in actual battle.”

The director then turned the pages of the document again.

Then she pointed at another page.

There were so many red annotations written, covering the whole paper such that it looked red.

“We managed to find about 178 magical items just from our analysis. Of course, the number excludes the damage and failure that was inflicted on the sample. As unbelievable as it sounds, various defects meshed together with each other to achieve a better performance than what they would normally be capable of. Even if we managed to remove all of its defects perfectly, it still wouldn’t be able to achieve a performance as high as it originally possessed. It is practically a product of miracles.”

“As expected, that is the case.”

I agreed with the director’s opinion.

The Magic Kingdom possessed incredible technological capabilities.

However, they were still not at a stage where they would be capable of producing a golem of this level.

They meshed defects and incomplete structures to somehow produce a functional weapon.

I doubt it was intentionally designed like that.

It was no wonder the director described it as a product of miracles.

“If it is okay with you, would you like to activate it? While it won’t produce its original output, we might be able to find something.”

“You’re right. Then please do so.”

I nodded as I responded.

As expected, it was easier to understand it once it actually moved.

It was essential to identify areas that needed improvement.

Grom, who had snuggled up to the golem, was looking at me with expectation.

Even if he didn’t say it, I understood his feelings.

Since it had come to this, let’s just answer his request.