CHAPTER 244: DEVOTION

I activated [Analyze], letting the system feed me information.

Grii (F) – Level 3 Forager

Loyalty: 55

Tika (F) – Level 2 Worker

Loyalty: 60

Meesh (F) – Level 3 Worker

Loyalty: 52

Hmm.

I swept my gaze across the rest and repeated the process, confirming what I’d already begun to suspect.

They were all workers. Low-level, non-combatants.

Nothing wrong with that—every clan needed its backbone. But they weren’t fighters, and from what I could tell, they weren’t pretending to be either.

As for their loyalty scores... all over 50.

That meant something.

They weren’t hostile. Cautious, yes. Intimidated, definitely. But not plotting. Not bitter. They respected me enough to stay, to follow orders if it came to that.

Nothing I needed to lose sleep over.

I just needed to treat them right.

That much was clear.

They weren’t a notably, not yet, but with time and proper guidance, they could be molded into something more—something useful.

Flogga could handle their integration well enough, and Narg would keep them disciplined.

Between the two of them, I was confident these new recruits would find their footing.

"Chief."

Zarah’s voice cut through my thoughts, sharp and slightly annoyed.

I turned, and sure enough, her expression had soured.

What did I do this time?

Before I could ask, she crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at me.

"Why are you looking at them so intensely?" she asked, clearly irritated. "You’re scaring them."

I blinked, then gasped quietly, realization hitting like a slap to the back of the head.

"Oh—I didn’t even realize."

I’d been so focused on analyzing their stats, comparing loyalty levels and class types, that I hadn’t processed what that must have looked like from their perspective.

I was just staring at them. Unblinking. Silent. Towering over them like I was choosing which one to eat first.

No wonder they were stiff with fear.

I gave a small nod of understanding, then turned away from the group to avoid making it worse. My focus shifted to Thok again.

"Where’s Flogga?" I asked.

He jerked his chin toward a building just ahead—one of the stone-walled shelters near the edge of the camp.

"She’s inside. Narg’s there too," he added. "Along with one of the Chosen. Not sure which one."

"Alright, carry on with what you’re doing," I said to Thok, giving him a firm look that carried the silent message: Don’t get too comfortable.

He nodded quickly, probably too quickly, and turned back to the nervous recruits.

I took Zarah’s hand and gently pulled her along with me, heading toward the building Thok had pointed out.

It stood out immediately.

Unlike the rest of the structures in the camp—mostly woven fabrics, wood, and bone frames—this one was solid, rectangular, made from stacked stone bricks. A roof of hardened clay and thatch covered it, and the base was reinforced with earth-packed stone.

Definitely not goblin-standard architecture.

The newly added goblins were capable of building something like this?

That... was interesting. Maybe even valuable.

A proper builder among them could change everything. Walls. Defenses. Infrastructure. We’d always made do with scrap and instinct, but real engineering? That could take us to the next level.

I just hope I didn’t kill whoever made this.

The thought crept in before I could stop it. During the battle with Jael’s forces, I hadn’t exactly gone easy on anyone. The chaos, the blood—it was hard to keep track of who was who. There’d been workers among them, sure. Some caught in the crossfire. It would seriously suck if the one with architectural talent ended up crushed beneath a boulder or vaporized by a stray ability.

Hopefully, the builder was one of the goblins I’d captured with Zivra and Talia. If not... well, we’d just lost something valuable.

As I approached the stone building, Zarah suddenly tugged back on my arm.

"Chief," she said, her tone careful—but pointed. "Are you... interested in any of those females you were looking at earlier?"

I froze.

Remaining still for a seconds.

Before my mind yelled:

Where the hell had that come from?

"No... why—why would you even ask that?"

I stammered, the words spilling out faster than I could control.

There was a frantic edge to my voice I didn’t like hearing, but it was there.

Zarah didn’t answer right away.

She looked down, then to the side, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear like she wasn’t sure she wanted to admit the thought out loud.

"The way you were staring," she mumbled. "It just... looked like something else."

"No!" I said, a little too loudly, waving my hands like that would somehow erase the memory. "I was analyzing! That’s it. I was just using my skill to check their loyalty and strength, I have a skill that can do that...!"

She blinked.

"Right....It’s okay if you’re interested... I mean, they are—"

"No, it’s not," I cut in sharply.

Before she could finish that sentence, I stepped in and gently cupped both of her cheeks in my hands, forcing her to look up at me.

My thumbs brushed just beneath her eyes, and I leaned down so we were eye to eye.

"It’s not okay. I’m not interested. Not in them. Not in anyone else. I only want you, Zarah. I mean that. Don’t doubt it for a second."

I held her gaze, letting her see it wasn’t just words.

It was truth.

I had no intention of starting some ego-driven harem. That wasn’t who I was.

Hell, it had taken me awhile to even accept intimacy between Zarah and me even though I had acted like a horny bastard the moment I arrived.

And now, after finally crossing that line, the idea of hopping from one goblin girl to the next...just wasn’t something that appealed to me.

Doing that would no doubt require emotional detachment.

It’ll turns intimacy into something transactional, received and given for pleasure rather than what it was meant to be:

Shared out of genuine emotional connection, love, or trust.

I didn’t want to be the kind of leader who treats affection like a reward or bodies like territory to conquer. It was ugly.

One is enough for me.

Zarah was enough.

"Alright," Zarah said, finally.

Her voice was light, accepting and though she turned away, I caught the smile tugging at the corner of her lips.

That alone eased something inside me.

We walked the...