Overlord: Start from the Goblin Lair.

Chapter 346: Molten Iron Barrier
Evander's business skills are shocking.

In the next two months, New Green Swamp Town and the entire Delusion Land developed rapidly. All resources were fully mobilized by this young man from Yungang, and he worked so hard that it was heartbreaking.

He ran around during the day and was often busy at night. Ron had seen the lights in his room on several occasions. The next morning, reports that had been refined to a fool-proof version would be neatly placed on Ron's desk.

This may not be a good thing for a politician, as it would make them feel that they are losing control of power; but for Ron, this would save him a lot of time for alchemical experiments and arcane research.

Carlos and Constance did complain to Ron about Evander, but the reason was mostly because the young man personally took care of almost all administrative matters. The two who had seen the Rose Council's style of doing things since childhood regarded this as arbitrary, but on the other hand, they had to admit that Evander was very efficient.

"He can do the work of five people, but how long can he last at this rate?" In the end, Constance, who had become accustomed to Evander's style, had given up the power to directly persuade Ron to dismantle him, and instead began to worry about the young man's health.

"Constance has been talking to me about you recently," Ron, who went to the office to handle official business early in the morning, ran into Evander again, who was holding a stack of documents. "It's a question whether you have slept as much as the elves these days, right?"

"You're joking." Evander's eye sockets looked much sunken than when Ron first saw him, but he still tried to cheer up. "I am a person with shame carved on my face. I must wash away my stigma and win honor again. It's just a small job. It's nothing."

"Only a living person can wash away the stigma, not someone who died from overwork," Ron let him in. "I read your report yesterday. Have we established a trade route with Yungang? Did the Bengtson family agree to this, too?"

"The current rotating governor of Yungang is from the Milkway family. He belongs to the 'shore faction' and prefers to actively exchange what he has with other forces to feed back their exploration in the ocean," Evander explained. "On the other hand, the change in the northern climate has caused the ocean currents to become turbulent, and the fisheries in the near and far seas have been more or less affected. If the Bengtson family still wants to maintain its status, it must compromise."

Evander said mockingly: "Those pirates value money more than anything else. In order to protect their interests, they would be willing to come and pay you apology."

"You can handle the details of this matter. After all, you are from Yungang." Ron nodded and looked at the documents Evander was holding. "What are these?"

"These are trade agreements between several members of the city-state alliance, these are survey reports on nearby natural resources, and these are..." Evander sat down opposite Ron and handed over the documents one by one. Finally, his hand stopped on a document marked with red ink. "And this one. Although it shouldn't bother you, I think it's necessary for you to take a look before giving it to Miss Victoria."

"What is it?" Ron took the special document, which seemed to be a copy of a letter. "Since it's a letter to Victoria, why not just give it to her directly? We don't have any requirements for reviewing letters."

"Of course, ordinary letters don't need to be reviewed," Evander grinned, "but this letter is different. It comes from the Molten Iron Citadel."

"'Molten Barrier'?" Ron's eyes fell on the signature of the long letter. There was indeed such a name written in the common language, but what did it mean?
Evander said it was a cult, but Ron had never heard of such a deity—and it didn't sound like the title of any god.

"The Molten Barrier is not the name of a single god. Some pan-believers do not believe in only one specific god, but believe in a certain concept, creed or other things, so they will worship multiple gods at the same time. When there are more such believers, various 'Pantheons' come into being." Seeing Ron's confusion, Evander explained.

"The Molten Iron Wall is a typical example: the believers in the cult believe in absolute order and fairness. Discipline, justice and logic are what they strive for. They believe that well-designed laws will create a reasonable class society, and legitimate leaders must be obeyed. The ruled should perform their duties, and the rulers should abide by the law, otherwise they should be replaced." "Is Heim also one of the gods they believe in?"

"That's right," Evander nodded. "The letter said that they seemed to have heard some kind of oracle and needed to come to Miss Victoria for confirmation. Of course, you have the final say here. If you don't want Miss Victoria to see them, just say a word."

"I don't understand why I should reject them?" Ron didn't think there was anything special about this matter. Victoria was a native of Fromm, and it was pure coincidence that she became a pastor in Heim. If someone from her organization approached her, this should certainly be good news... right?

"It seems that you don't know much about the Molten Iron Barrier," Evander nodded. "As I said just now, they believe in order, but the problem is, there is too much order!"

"These people are simply moralists! If they saw that there are so many... so many different races in your territory, they would definitely go crazy!"

"I'm not their believer, can they discipline me?"

"That's the problem. Although you are not their believer, Miss Victoria is," Evander said quickly. "If they only came with a few inquisitors and priests as written in the letter, they would definitely not dare to interfere with you, but this would not prevent them from dealing with Miss Victoria! Mixed with kobolds, goblins, dhampirs, and orcs, their conclusions will definitely not be any better."

"If they do make a penalty, can you just sit there and do nothing?"

"What if a conflict really breaks out? Are we going to go to war with the entire cult?"

"So, if you say so, why don't we just not meet?" Ron was confused by what he said, but he had to start thinking about it seriously. In his previous life, someone could ask "how many divisions does God have?", but here... if the gods of all worlds come together, they can form a division of their own!

"That's not good either," the newly appointed civil servant knocked on the table, "Sir Ron, you don't want to be labeled as a lord who 'rejects order', do you?"

"So what do you think we should do? Should we meet them or not?"

Evander was silent for a moment, then said, "My Lord, although I have not dealt with matters in this regard before, based on similar thorny matters, I have an immature suggestion: See you there."

"No. Or rather, not here."

(End of this chapter)