Goblin King: My Innate Skill Is OP

”You’ve become more competent.”

She said it so casually that for a second, I genuinely froze, staring at her in disbelief.

Ariel, meanwhile, simply turned and walked away as if she hadn’t just said something completely unexpected.

That was what snapped me back to reality.

”So I wasn’t competent before?”

I called after her, but she didn’t bother responding. Her tail flicked once behind her as she continued heading downstairs without even looking back.

I ended up smiling despite myself.

Honestly, I never expected a compliment to come from Ariel of all people.

If anything, I was more used to her complaining, threatening to expose secrets, or acting like I was personally responsible for every inconvenience in her life.

So hearing something like that from her felt... strangely satisfying.

I leaned back slightly and thought about what might’ve changed her opinion.

The most obvious answer was the clan itself.

Ever since Ariel arrived, everything had been moving nonstop. The Emerald Midget Clan had expanded rapidly, stronger goblins kept gathering under my banner, defenses were improving, and even the atmosphere of the clan felt different now compared to before.

And the strange part was that all of this had happened within only a few days.

When I first arrived here, I was barely surviving from one situation to the next. Now?

We had walls, Chosen under my command, alliances forming, enemies being absorbed into the clan, and preparations underway for something as massive as the King’s Games.

Things were growing fast.

Maybe seeing all of that had finally convinced Ariel that I wasn’t just some random goblin stumbling his way through everything. That I actually knew what I was doing. That I was the real deal. That I was genuinely capable of becoming something far bigger than an ordinary goblin could be.

Something her mother must have seen thus why she chose me.

Though whether being a goblin with that much potential was actually a good thing or not... I honestly didn’t know anymore. Because potential attracted attention. Some good. Some very, very bad.

Ever since arriving in this world, stronger beings kept appearing around me one after another, almost as if the more I grew, the more visible I became to things that normally would’ve ignored someone like me completely.

Still...I couldn’t deny that Ariel’s words pleased me. The fact that she saw me as competent now, and more importantly, that her loyalty toward me had clearly risen. That mattered. Not just emotionally, but practically too.

The higher her loyalty became, the more access I gained to her abilities through [Skill Share], and eventually...Fusion.

I was honestly anticipating that more than anything else.

The idea alone sounded absurdly overpowered, especially considering Ariel wasn’t even at her peak yet. She was still growing, still evolving, and every additional tail she unlocked drastically increased her strength.

Which meant that by the time her loyalty finally reached one hundred...

The power we’d gain from combining together would probably be extraordinary.

I got dressed in my usual dark leather armor, tightening the belts around my waist before throwing a fur-lined cloak over my shoulders.

The armor still carried scratches, cuts, and faint stains of dried blood from previous battles, giving it a rough, battle-worn appearance. Nothing about it looked elegant, but it looked dependable, like something that had survived alongside me rather than simply being worn.

After finishing up, I headed downstairs toward where the others had gathered. And the moment I stepped into the area, I felt it immediately.

The heavy atmosphere.

The goblins gathered here were far from ordinary now, most of them possessing powerful skill lines, and among them were multiple Chosen whose very presence naturally affected the surroundings.

Mana lingered heavily throughout the room.

Different energies mixed in subtle ways, some violent, some sharp, some oppressive, creating an invisible pressure that filled the space without anyone intentionally releasing it.

The moment they noticed me entering, every single one of them rose to their feet almost immediately.

”Chief.”

”Good morning, Chief.”

”Chief.”

”Young Totem.”

The greetings overlapped one after another as their attention settled on me.

I acknowledged them with a small smile and a wave before taking my seat at the head of the table.

The others followed shortly after, settling back into their places as the atmosphere gradually relaxed again, though the pressure in the room never fully disappeared. With this many powerful goblins gathered together, that was probably impossible now.

As I looked around, I couldn’t help but notice how crowded the room had become compared to before. I grinned faintly to myself before leaning back slightly.

Then the discussions began.

At first, we focused on the more immediate matters: food, housing, and defense.

The newer goblins still needed to be properly integrated, and with the clan continuing to grow, the strain on both our resources and overall structure had become increasingly obvious.

Eventually, the discussion shifted toward the clan’s internal organization, and that was when Caius finally spoke up.

”The clan needs more structure,” he said calmly, his tone respectful despite the directness of the statement. ”Right now, too much responsibility is centered around you alone.”

The room grew quieter after that. Not tense. Just attentive.

Caius continued.

”That may work temporarily while the clan is small, but not anymore. Especially if we’re planning to continue expanding and integrating more goblins.”

I understood what he meant immediately.

Everything eventually came back to me. Training decisions. Resource allocation. Defense. Leadership. Disputes. Planning. Expansion.

It was manageable before because the clan had been smaller, but now? Not anymore.

And it would only get worse once we started absorbing additional clans.

So after thinking about it briefly, I nodded.

”I agree.”

There was no point pretending otherwise.

Trying to manage everything personally would eventually slow the clan down more than it helped, especially now that the clan had grown far beyond a small group of goblins surviving through instinct and brute force alone.

Which was exactly why things needed to change.

”We can’t continue operating the way we have been,” I said while looking around the room. ”The clan’s too large for everything to keep revolving around me alone. From this point onward, everyone will have proper responsibilities.”

The atmosphere in the room shifted slightly after that.

I rested my arm lightly against the chair before continuing.

”First off, Zarah, you’d be the clan’s...