Overlord: Start from the Goblin Lair.

Chapter 347 Undecided
"Mr. Holt, you are talking nonsense."

"I know exactly what I'm talking about, sir," Evander pointed to the map behind Ron, "The main activity area of ​​Furnace Fortress is east of the City-State Alliance's sphere of influence. If they don't plan to cross the mountains, they can only come to the trade post between us and the City-State Alliance. Goblins and kobolds usually don't set foot there, so we can more easily clear out a 'clean' area," Evander said, the scars on his face looked like living things, "Those old-fashioned people who only know how to follow orders will definitely not want to investigate further, and the assessment of Miss Victoria can be successfully completed."

"Of course, it's not enough to just manage the people. We have to perform a complete show. All the utensils, food, etc. must be screened to prevent the truth from being exposed as much as possible."

Evander's method seems to be a way to deal with inspections from higher authorities, but it is just a superficial measure. Ron cannot guarantee that those moralists can be as "easy to talk to" as their superiors.

"Even if they don't want to investigate further, they will eventually hear about it. We are more or less a transportation hub now. How easy is it to conceal the news?"

Evander smiled cunningly: "Rumors cannot be used as evidence, otherwise, not to mention the outside world, even their inner sect will be purged and only the Inquisitor will be left."

"As long as we hold on tightly, they won't be able to see any clues. It's easy for them to come and leave, but it's difficult for them to come again."

"Let alone the Inquisitor, even if it's the Inquisition, they can't just kick down the door and search it every other day, right?"

The two of them had made up their minds, and Evander immediately called Victoria over. The pastor of Heim was preaching in the church at the time. She had no idea what was going to happen to her. She just hurried over when she heard that Ron had a letter for her.

"Sir, did you hear that there is a letter from me?" Evander was still an "outsider" to her, so when he was present, Victoria chose to use more formal honorifics instead of calling him by his name.

"I only have one uncle whom I haven't seen for many years. I heard that he is making a living among the city-states. Could it be that he has a letter?"

Victoria's family ties were not as close as Ivy's, so the pastor's reaction seemed rather cold. But when Ron handed her the original letter, and she saw the wax and seal that had been preserved as intact as possible, Victoria's breathing became rapid.

"I'm sorry Victoria," Ron thought she was unhappy that he had read her letter, "but I had to check it in advance. After all, this letter is from--"

"Melting Iron Barrier! I know!" Victoria interrupted Ron quickly, "My God, since the day I started serving Heim, there has not been a day that I didn't want to join them!"

"These respected knights and priests, under the guidance of gods such as Helm, have been fighting on the front lines against the abyss, sin, and chaos! Could it be that our deeds have even reached their ears?"

"It has been delivered, Miss Victoria," Evander shook his head slightly, "but I'm afraid it was not delivered in the way you expected - Miss Victoria?"

Ron watched Victoria across from him go through the entire process from being passionate, to being poured with cold water, and finally becoming petrified in just a few seconds. After reading the entire letter, Victoria felt as if she had been struck by lightning, and she froze in place.

She still couldn't believe it, and read every word in the letter again and again: "No, this is impossible, this... why is it like this?"

The priest, who had always been resolute, actually cried a little. "Perhaps it's because of your friends," Evander mercilessly shattered Victoria's last fantasy. "I heard that when clergymen violate the commandments, their holy emblems usually react according to the degree of violation. Miss Victoria, no one should know this better than you, right?"

"It's like this," Victoria shrank down. She thought about the number of times the holy emblem in her hand had heated up. She felt dizzy. "Heim..."

"But I don't think I have betrayed my beliefs! Everything I have done and tolerated is for the people and things I protect. This is my duty! Why would they come to investigate me?"

"Of course I believe that you have not betrayed your faith, otherwise you would have lost the opportunity to bathe in the glory of God long ago," Evander shrugged, "but what if they think that you have 'deviated' from the creed and need to be whipped to get you back on track?"

"Encouragement, correctness..." the disappointed pastor muttered to himself, "Yes, you have a point, Mr. Holt. But what should I do?"

"If you want to join the Crucible, my suggestion is to put all non-human races in the entire territory on the gallows, stakes and guillotines," Evander gave Ron a reassuring look, "which should at least include Lord Kalade the Great Goblin, Mr. Driver the Goblin Hunter, and Miss Sylvia. If you want the cult to fully believe in your position, you should also include Lord Exuri, who should have believed in Bahamut a long time ago."

"In this case, they will certainly cordially invite you to join their knights and fight together on the 'front line'."

Ron observed the priest's facial expression. This companion, who had shared life and death many times with him, was stunned for a moment after hearing Evander's "brilliant plan", and then his emotion quickly turned to anger.

"Mr. Holt! You are instigating me to betray!" Victoria's face flushed abnormally. She lowered her voice, as if suppressing her anger. "I will never do such a thing! If they really ask me to do so, I would rather die in front of them! I will dedicate my life and soul to Heim to prove my loyalty!"

"But if you do this, you are pushing the Lord and your friends into the fire pit," Evander said with some embarrassment. "Do you think that the connection between people is one-way? If you die for this, how will the Lord deal with it?"

"Then..." Victoria struggled, "Then I'll have no choice but to go back to Fromm Town first, and say goodbye and leave after the mayor relieves me of my mission."

"I hope this won't implicate anyone else."

"Simply running away won't solve the problem," Evander finally confirmed at this moment that the loyalty of the priest in front of her was even greater than her piety - this was easy, "I do have a way to resolve this dispute more appropriately, but I must have your cooperation."

"Mr. Holt?" Victoria's brows furrowed again after a brief relaxation. "I can't deceive my fellow believers, and I have no way to deceive them. There must be magic monitoring."

"You don't need to lie to them," Evander shook his finger, "It's just that there are some details that you haven't made up your mind to tell them, right?"

(End of this chapter)