The few days ride back to Perseverance didn’t have much input from me in our conversations. I was just a coward; I didn’t want to get involved in a country’s affairs. Calm down, Deidre. I hoped that things wouldn’t get very far, and that with our report, my worries would wane and my worst fears would vanish.

During our last night camping, I spent some time with Tina on night watch while Adam and Solina slept. She didn’t appear clingy when others could see, but by ourselves, she stuck to me. Frankly, Tina wasn’t the type of person I expected to get involved with. She felt a bit vain, and at times she was the presumptuous type who looked down on warriors and knights. But the way she looked at me and the affection she put forth felt real. It was something I didn’t realize I wanted that bad, and now that I had it, I wanted to explore it.

Sure, I overthought things, and sometimes wondered if she only grew interested in me because of my magical ability. Maybe, maybe not. But I knew I wanted to find out normally, and not lose her or myself in the process. The demons put doubts of ever living a normal, happy life.

I squeezed her hand tighter and gazed at the campfire. “Tina, can I trust you?”

“Hmm?” She tilted her head and leaned on me again. “Of course, you can. Why?”

I, don’t think she’s lying. I sighed. Her mana didn’t sway. Just like with the Vampire Lord from my castle, I had an innate sense of knowing when someone lied. “How strong of a wizard am I compared to human standards?”

She laughed. “Sometimes I forget you’re not human. We have this ranking system like ADAS. We use it for spells and for our wizards as well. Most casters come to the Wizard Guild knowing lifestyle magic and work hard to advance to novice magic. That’s where I’m at. Next is apprentice; most wizards don’t make it there, and remain novices for the rest of their lives. A small percentage of us become apprentices. There’s a level above that called adept, but I can count the number of adepts on two hands.”

Hmm, so it’s the same as the spell tiers in the grimoire. I was so easily able to cast expert and master spells. “What about expert and master magics?”

She scoffed. “We see one expert maybe every hundred years. At the moment, there is none. And master wizards are in the history books, but it’s just a legend. Why are you asking anyway?”

“L-last question.” So, there are no expert wizards, that means no one in this world can use expert spells. I hugged her and pulled her closer. “What about hit po—uh, life force and mana? Do you know what yours are? Is there a way to measure and quantify them?”

“Y-yeah. We use an appraisal orb. That’s how we ensure we don’t have wizards practicing the dark art of necromancy.” She bopped me on the nose with her finger. “They only do it on registration, special occasions, and annually. Otherwise, it’s financially unhealthy to get appraised. Mine’s at uh,” she tried to remember, “around 1,500 mana. Don’t know what’s that life force thing though.” She smiled. “And what about you, God Lich Deidre?” Her eyes fell on my lips again, but she was much more aware of it this time around. “What’s your mana capacity?”

I squirmed a bit inside, but in the end, she knew I was a lich. Perhaps such a thing was normal for the Lich God. “999,999,” I said.

Her wily smirk stopped. “Wha-what?” She removed herself from me and stood up. “Then, what level of spells can you go up to?”

I sighed. “Please just, act normally. I’m really just a normal woman on the inside.”

She averted her eyes downward, but there was a fire in them that needed that information. “Answer the question.”

“Master,” I said.

“No wonder…” she chuckled weakly and slumped to her knees. “That explains why I never saw some of your spells. You’re a master wizard. Hah!” She had a disappointed look in her eyes. “Now I know why you’re on the Death List.”

Death List, huh? I decided on what to do, somewhat, after hearing about the Death List again. The next day, we properly reported what happened, and I parted from them to take care of some business.

After perusing the pages of my grimoire to find a way to hide the details of my status information, I waited patiently in the Wizard Guild in the guise of Camouflage and Conceal. Finally, once there was an abundance of the wizards, I made my appearance in my lich form.

Should they somehow be able to appraise me, they would only see my name as ‘Lich God’, and they would also see my HP and MP for what it truly was. My intention was to be believed, even if through fear, not laughed at.

I slammed the Scepter of the Lich God onto the ground to grab their attention and flared a massive amount of mana. “Hear me, humans!” I released the stealth spells. My appearance jarred them out of whatever they were busy doing and many of them came rushing in to the courtyard where they practiced to see what was going on. “The demons are on your doorstep. I’ve blessed one known as Deidre with my power. Seek her out, and cast aside your hatred of the dark art. That is, if you wish to live.”

I teleported away to the Knight Guild, and gave the same grandiose speech. I hoped it was an expected thing for a lich to say. Now we wait…

Surely, my human form would be sought after for help, or perhaps they would start an investigation on the movements of demons and learn of the invasion for themselves.

But that wasn’t the case. The very next day, a horde of knights and a few wizards surrounded the inn where my party and I slept. They interrupted our breakfast, and pretty much arrested me. Somehow, I could feel it reeking from them – the stench of ignorance, of pride, of fear. These weren’t the actions of a society that was willing to let go of their beliefs and embrace the words of an enemy.

What was I expecting? I pondered as they brought me in shackles to a large courtyard after teleporting somewhere. The place didn’t look like anything I’d seen in Perseverance, so I was sure we were in another city or region.

There were a few individuals idling around a large table. The one to the farthest end of me was the palest of them all, and the most casually dressed person. Her jet-black hair and striking azure eyes were attention-grabbing.

The individuals at the side of her looked to a high-ranking wizard and knight, both with a respectable age. On the side of the wizard, was yet another wizard. And on the side of the knight, was another person in armor befitting of a knight.