CHAPTER 256: HIERARCHY

I broke the silence first, tossing the question out casually even though I was already watching him from the corner of my eye.

"You told the others to refer to you as ’General’?"

Narg froze mid-step.

I stopped too and turned toward him, letting my expression sharpen just enough to make him sweat.

"Who made you a general? Did I?" I asked, putting just a hint of confrontation into my tone.

The effect was instant.

Narg began trembling under the weight of the question, and then—because he was Narg—he dropped straight to his knees like the ground had yanked him down.

"No, you didn’t, Chief," he said quickly, voice tight.

"So what was that about?" I asked, keeping my eyes on him.

Narg swallowed, his jaw tightening as he forced himself to explain.

"I just thought there needed to be a hierarchy," he said carefully. "So the new goblins don’t get... disrespectful, thinking everyone stands on equal footing. You have to work hard to earn a position of respect. And I believe I—and those who started with you—deserve that respect."

"So that’s why you had them call you General."

"No... I didn’t," Narg said quickly, shaking his head. "I never specifically told them to call me that. But since you referred to me as second to you, they assumed the title was fitting."

He said it honestly, no hesitation in his voice, then added with a small sigh:

"Dribb, however, didn’t like it. He said titles should be earned by a show of strength. He challenged me to a one-on-one, saying if he won, he should be the one called General."

"Wait— that actually happened?" I asked, genuinely surprised. "You two fought?"

"Yes," Narg said, straightening a little despite kneeling. "Dribb lost. Then Gobbo challenged me. Then Thok. Then Zonk. Even Zarah."

"...What? You fought with Zarah?" I asked, unable to hide the disbelief in my voice.

"Ye—" Narg began, then immediately cut himself off, jaw snapping shut as if he realized exactly what he just admitted and who he admitted it to.

He thought I wouldn’t like it—because of Zarah, because of what she meant to me, because he assumed mentioning he had traded blows with her might annoy me or bruise some ego.

But it was the opposite.

If anything, I felt a sting of disappointment that I hadn’t been there to watch. I wanted to see the siblings go at it, to watch Zarah and Narg clash, to see how far each of them had come.

Too bad I had been busy sprinting away from undead goblins that wanted to rip my spine out.

"So you won," I said, folding my arms. "Against all of them."

"Yes," Narg replied. "One on one. If I had taken them together, it might have been tough."

Tough... but I’d win.

That was the part he swallowed before he said it out loud.

He didn’t need to finish the sentence—I could see it in the faint smirk fighting its way onto his face, in the way his posture straightened just a little. The confidence was bubbling just beneath the surface.

How cocky.

A small part of me wondered if I should challenge him to a duel just to humble him a bit, just to wipe that barely-contained arrogance off his face. But I dismissed the thought almost immediately.

A fight between us wouldn’t be a duel.

It wouldn’t even be fair.

And it definitely wouldn’t be a lesson—just a beating.

Overall, I was impressed with him, though.

I’d seen Dribb and Gobbo earlier at the gate, and they were walking around without a scratch, not even a bruise on their arms. Which meant one thing: Narg had gone easy on them. He hadn’t fought them seriously. He’d controlled himself, held back enough not to injure anyone, and still won every match.

That wasn’t ordinary strength.

That was control.

But when it came to Zarah?

That was different. She wasn’t Dribb. She wasn’t Gobbo.

She was... well, Zarah. Fast, sharp, fierce.

And stubborn in a way Narg would have to respect or get humbled by.

I doubted he walked through that fight easily.

"Your fight with Zarah," I asked, watching him closely, "how did it go?"

Narg exhaled slowly, the memory flickering in his eyes.

"It was definitely the hardest," he admitted, "but I won in the end."

My eyes narrowed slightly.

"She’s not injured, is she?"

The question came out calm, but there was an undertone there—a quiet warning wrapped in concern.

And Narg swallowed hard.

"No, she didn’t suffer any real injury," he said quickly. "But her pride might have. She hates losing."

Of course she did. That much was obvious the first day I met her.

And losing to her brother of all people?

Yeah... that was going to sting twice as much. Maybe three times. Zarah didn’t seem like one to take defeat gracefully, especially not from someone she grew up with.

I let out a slow sigh.

She was definitely going to be sulking somewhere.

"Alright, Narg," I said, straightening a little. "You can go. Just don’t enforce any laws without my permission."

"Noted, Chief," he replied, bowing his head with the seriousness of someone receiving a decree.

"Also," I added, "if you spot the female Chosen—Talia—have her come meet me."

Just like with Bundi, I needed to see what she was capable of and assign her something useful. I couldn’t afford not to utilize the talent I had, not with so little time before the Games.

For now, though, I had another priority.

I needed to see my beloved and settle whatever storm Narg’s victory had stirred in her... and maybe steal a bit of affection while I was at it.

Narg left, and I activated [Warp], focusing on the seal I had placed on Zarah.

A blink later, I appeared in the middle of a pond.

Cold water splashed up to my knees, and before I even processed the temperature, my eyes landed on the two naked goblins in front of me.

Zarah...And Talia, who was behind her, was gently washing Zarah’s ear.

Talia spotted me first, and there was a single heartbeat of frozen, awkward silence where we just stared at each other, neither of us moving, before she yelled:

"Ah! Don’t...