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

I froze at Grom’s remarks.

Although it was unexpected, I wasn’t too surprised about it.

I scratched my forehead and asked him after correcting my posture.

“What happened? Tell me in detail.”

“Yes, actually…”

Grom timidly began to talk about the situation.

It seemed that there were many people claiming to be the Savior on the continent where the riot took place.

According to the spies’ investigation, a bard spread the story.

Moreover, it was said that the story was heavily modified.

According to the bard, the Savior was a nameless herald.

There could be multiple people who bear the name as they were helping people behind the scenes.

Everyone had such qualities and could be a Savior by doing good deeds.

And those who manage to become Saviors have their souls blessed.

Some people were inspired by this and began to call themselves the Savior.

The spies who sensed the situation reported to me through Grom.

“I see. This is troublesome.”

“My deepest apologies. If only we proceeded with the plan earlier…”

“You don’t have to apologize. It is I who was too naïve to read the situation.”

The speed of the rumor spreading was higher than expected.

It was unnaturally widespread.

Even with the presence of the bard, I felt that it was too influential.

Perhaps the Will of the World was involved in this.

The people’s emotions seeking out heralds triggered the emergence of Saviors.

In any case, it was a fact that I failed to stop it.

I doubt everyone seriously claimed themselves to be the Savior.

It was just a fad, so to speak.

It was more of an entertainment.

It was how common people pretended to feel like a herald.

If it was in any other situation, it was a harmless fad.

But at present, it was the worst kind of act.

The Will of the World intervened with trivial possibilities, leading to unbelievable results.

Logic couldn’t apply to the collective entity of human desire.

The fact that we have people proclaiming themselves to be the Savior in various locations certainly had meaning.

It wouldn’t be weird if there was someone who actually awakened among them.

Some might have already mastered eccentric abilities.

Understanding the situation, I commanded Grom.

“The plan on making a spy become the Savior is canceled. I’ll have the spy return to his former duties.”

“Hah, I will relay the command. What should we do for those people who claimed to be the Savior?”

“Fumu…”

I pondered over Grom's question.

I asked him back while looking at his face.

“Grom, what would you do in this situation?”

“M-me, is it…?”

Grom, who was confused by the sudden question, thought while knocking against his own forehead.

Eventually, he replied with vitriol.

“—I would immediately kill them all. They were rebels who hindered with your important plans. I don’t see any advantage in keeping them alive for the Demon Lord’s Army.”

“I see.”

“It seems that Demon Lord-sama has a different opinion about it.”

“Yes. I won’t kill them all. I would instead take advantage of this situation.”

Killing them all was easy.

However, it didn’t mean much to carry that out at this point in time.

On the contrary, it would likely turn the situation for the worse.

The dissatisfaction and fear of the masses might get stimulated, further strengthening the people’s desire for a Savior.

Anyway, the existing strategy was no longer viable.

There was no choice but to proceed with a new method.

After summarizing my thoughts, I gave Grom an additional command.

“Uncover and monitor all the identities of the self-proclaimed Saviors. We will have them cooperate to achieve world peace.”

“Certainly! I will do that right away.”

Grom left the room nimbly.

His presence moved away from the castle and quickly went away.

“…”

I focused on the presence behind me.

Luciana was sitting on the open window.

She appeared at about the same moment as Grom left the room.

Perhaps she eavesdropped on our conversation earlier.

Luciana sighed deeply.

“Things have become troublesome. Are you sure you are not hated by the Will of the World?”

“…I can’t deny that.”

The Will of the World had interfered with my actions many times in the past.

I thought I could get away from it this time, but it seemed that it wasn’t so easy to achieve that.

Luciana came into the room then wrapped her arms around my shoulders.

She drew closer and whispered.

“Well, leave the preparations to me. Failure is a common thing.”

“Indeed. I have no time to sulk.”

I never expected that I would be able to pull it off perfectly to begin with.

I did consider failure.

It was unexpected that a Savior would appear en masse, but it wasn’t impossible to deal with.

I had experience and power gained all this time.

“We will restore order. It will be us moving the world.”

“That’s great! I felt a thrill from that line.”

Luciana said happily as she licked her lips.

She didn’t feel pessimistic about failure.

Rather, she was burning with a fighting spirit.

I should learn from her optimistic attitude.

This time, I decided to exceed the Will of the World.