Chapter 299: A New Order

Abel glanced at Iron and asked gently:

"So, what now? See you tomorrow? Or are you two going to stay the night after all?"

Iron shook his head.

"Nah, I think we'd better head back. It's still dangerous to leave the settlement unprotected, even though I've put up a barrier around it."

Abel nodded in understanding.

"I see. All right, then... see you tomorrow, Iron."

"Yep," Iron replied briefly as he approached Noah.

"All right, Noah, time to head back," the engineer announced.

Noah raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"What? Already?"

"Yeah, we need to get going. Besides, I still have to assign everyone their duties in the village, so..." Iron began to explain.

Noah immediately cut him off with a wave of his hand.

"Well, that's your job, isn't it? So go ahead."

Iron narrowed his eyes.

"What, you want to stay here? Besides, it'd be really good for everyone to see that we've all returned together."

Noah glanced around skeptically, lowering his voice.

"Have you even seen how many ridiculously powerful beings there are here? Do you honestly think I'd want to leave this place?"

Iron let out a heavy sigh.

"Fine, you can stay. But you and Elyria need to come with me for just a couple of minutes. I need you both to hear everyone's assignments—including your own."

Noah exhaled in annoyance.

"Fine."

Just then, Seraphina rushed over to Noah, her face filled with genuine dismay.

"Wait... you're leaving? You're really leaving, Lord Noah?!"

Noah grimaced, trying to look as stern as possible.

"Not for long."

Seraphina cupped her cheeks with both hands and stared at him wide-eyed.

"Whaaaaat?!"

Noah sighed heavily and shot her an irritated look.

"Don't give me that 'whaaaaat' nonsense. Just wait for me to come back. This time, I'll definitely beat you."

Seraphina's face instantly lit up with the happiest smile imaginable.

"Understood, my lord!"

Iron snapped his fingers lightly.

The space around them warped for a fraction of a second, and in the blink of an eye, he, Noah, and Elyria—who had been talking to Nivea just moments earlier—vanished.

The world around them changed abruptly.

They materialized right on the sofas in the left wing of the village's Main Building. The room was suddenly filled with people. Sitting on the soft sofas and armchairs directly in front of them were Clerk, Eliza, and several other villagers Iron had teleported there.

Clerk, still clutching his tools, blinked in bewilderment, trying to figure out when exactly he'd ended up here. The others exchanged equally confused glances.

Iron closed his fingers into a fist, gesturing for everyone to be quiet.

The murmur of voices died away at once. Every eye turned toward the engineer who had just appeared.

"I've gathered you all here to officially announce everyone's assignments," Iron said in a calm but authoritative tone. "Our village is growing, and this moment was bound to come sooner or later. If anyone has questions, or if someone absolutely doesn't want to take the position I've assigned them, tell me right away. I'll do my best to find an alternative."

The villagers exchanged glances and nodded in agreement. Liana spoke quietly on everyone's behalf.

"All right, we understand."

Iron was about to continue when Elyria's indignant voice rang out. She'd only just realized where she was.

"Hey! Iron! What's going on here?! I was in the middle of talking to Nivea! Why did you drag me here?!"

Iron sighed wearily and glanced at her.

"I just explained what we're about to do."

"But I was in the middle of a conversation!" Elyria pouted. "Send me back!"

"I'll send you back in a couple of minutes, once I've announced everyone's positions," Iron replied firmly.

"Well... then hurry up!" she grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest.

Iron shook his head and looked around at the assembled villagers.

"Right. I'll be the Supreme Ruler and chief engineer of the village. Elyria will be our Chief Combat Commander..."

At those words, Noah smirked slightly and raised an eyebrow skeptically.

"Seriously? Her?"

Iron answered without the slightest change in expression.

"She's got more combat experience than all of us put together, so the position suits her perfectly. And Noah will be our Chief Protector."

Before Noah could object, Iron continued listing the assignments.

"Eliza will be in charge of administration, supplies, and general affairs. Clerk will head construction, with Marek as his deputy. Vadya, Kane, and the rest of you guys will work as laborers and builders. Call yourselves whatever you like, but your job will involve construction, repairs, and building new structures. Pass this on to the other guys later so I don't have to repeat it to everyone individually."

Elyria immediately sprang to her feet.

"That's it! You've already named me Chief Combat Commander. Can I go now?!"

Iron completely ignored her and continued.

"Nastya and Sylphi will be responsible for the gardens and food supplies. You can choose a few people to help you. And Liana..." He turned to look at the girl. "...will be in charge of the central storage facility."

Liana blinked in surprise and asked for clarification.

"All right... What exactly will I have to do?"

"You'll keep track of all our supplies, maintain order in the storage facility, issue items and tools upon official request, receive new deliveries, warn us in advance when resources are running low, and protect our supplies from being lost or wasted. It's an important and fairly demanding job, so you can recruit assistants you trust as well."

"Oh, that makes sense now," Liana said with a nod, accepting her new responsibilities.

After assigning everyone their positions, Iron paused for a moment and quickly scanned the room.

"Does anyone disagree with their assigned position? Or perhaps you have any questions?"

A chorus of nods and approving voices answered him. The villagers were completely satisfied with his decision.

Assuming her part here was over, Elyria puffed out her cheeks in annoyance and prepared to use her own magic to teleport back to Nivea. But at that very moment, Iron issued a mental command.

Lumon, block her teleportation.

Lumon responded instantly. An invisible spatial barrier formed around Elyria for a fraction of a second, cutting off her energy flow. Her attempt to teleport failed. She froze in midair, blinked in confusion, and stared at her own body, utterly baffled as to why her magic had suddenly stopped working.

Meanwhile, Iron continued as though nothing had happened.

"There's one more thing. We need a head chef and a few assistants. On top of that, I'm planning to completely overhaul the way we handle food and introduce a proper currency in the near future."

He crossed his arms over his chest and continued explaining.

"On one hand, gathering around the campfire three times a day is a great tradition. It strengthens our bonds and brings the community together. But on the other hand, our village is growing. Gathering such a large crowd three times a day will eventually become inefficient and inconvenient. People should be able to decide for themselves when they're hungry and eat whenever it suits them."

After a brief pause, Iron pointed at Eliza.

"That's why I was initially thinking of appointing you as head chef, Eliza. You could also choose a couple of assistants..."

Eliza immediately began waving her hands.

"Oh, no, no! Sorry, Iron, but I definitely don't want to be a chef! I think it's far too much responsibility, and cooking just isn't my thing."

Iron froze mid-sentence, but quickly collected himself and replied calmly.

"All right... fair enough. I'll try to figure something out later. Maybe there's someone else in the village who enjoys cooking and is good at it."

He looked around at everyone in the room and wrapped things up.

"That's all for now. These are your official positions from this point on. If you run into any difficulties or something isn't clear, come straight to me. Is everything understood?"

"Yes, everything's clear!" came the collective response.

Iron rolled up his sleeve and snapped his fingers. Space warped around them once more, and Noah, Elyria, and everyone else disappeared, returning to their respective places—some back to the Council, others to their everyday duties in the village.

The spacious living room fell completely silent. Iron was all alone. He leaned back against the soft cushions of the sofa, laced his hands behind his head, and let out a heavy sigh, finally allowing the tension of the past few hours to fade away.

He replayed everything in his mind.

Well, that's that... Noah and Elyria have heard their own assignments and everyone else's. Hopefully, there won't be any questions from them.

But the relief was soon followed by another wave of worries. Iron slowly stretched his arms along the back of the sofa and muttered:

"Damn... I need to create a currency as soon as possible. And I need to get the settlement's entire economic structure up and running before everything descends into chaos."

He fell into thought, considering how exactly he should build the system.

"With the village growing, simple barter just won't work anymore. I need something like... a standardized coin system, where residents can earn coins by building, harvesting crops, or doing other work, then spend them on food, tools, and services."

Iron went quiet for a moment, staring at the floor as a thought crossed his mind.

"Or maybe... I could ask Abel for help?"

But he immediately shook his head, dismissing the idea, and rose decisively from the sofa.

"No, absolutely not. It'll be much more satisfying if I do it myself."

With that in mind, Iron headed straight for his office to begin developing the financial system.