"This way, only guys sleep in there." Doro said. "The girls have to split one hut, but it still seemed like a better idea."
"Why is that?" Jason asked.
"Well," The male Ogre scratched his cheek. "Ena... She attacked you, and she was part of their group. I thought that giving them a hut might... You know, make them less mad?"
"Hm." Jason remained silent for a moment, his finger tapping the table in front of him periodically. "It’s not a bad idea, but I don’t want them to remain as their own group. If anything, it might feel like they’re being isolated."
"Oh, I see." Doro nodded and held his chin. "I thought giving them their own space would help, but it might actually make them more of an isolated group?"
"Yeah." The Chief answered. "But it doesn’t really matter."
"I-It doesn’t? But Ena..."
Doro’s words trailed off as his gaze moved to the Chief’s cold and expressionless face.
"If they want to be their own group, then let them." Jason shrugged. "We’ll see how the situation develops."
"Do you want me to talk to them?" Narjis asked. "Make sure that everything is good?"
"No, let them come if they want to." The Chief answered. ’In the first place, the System assures me that they have accepted me as their Chief.’ Jason laid his hands on the table. "In any case, we’re not here to discuss them. We’re here to discuss tomorrow’s program."
"Tomorrow?" Doro tilted his head.
"What do you have in mind?" Narjis rested her elbows on the table.
The Chief stared at them for a moment. Narjis, the Acting Chief, was his right arm, and Doro was his left arm.
"We’ll be going after the Orcs," Jason said bluntly. "Remaining on the defensive here won’t get us anywhere."
Doro gulped immediately while Narjis listened carefully.
"We’ll bring the fight to them, and hopefully take over their village." Jason continued. "The Orcs are numerous, and their different villages all belong to the same Tribe, to the same Orc Chief."
"So you want to take the weaker villages?" Narjis scratched her chin. "If we do that, the Orc Chief will be alerted, and we can’t win against them coming at us with full force."
"We’ll just need to increase our forces," Jason argued. "We won’t just slaughter and take their village, we’re taking the Orcs as well."
"T-Take the Orcs?" Doro stuttered. "You mean... Make them our slaves, right?"
"No," The Chief shook his head. "Well, I suppose some of them... Anyway, the goal is to make them part of our village, part of our Tribe."
"Living among Orcs..." Doro gulped again. "I... Um... I don’t know..."
"What makes you think any Orc would agree to that?" Narjis questioned. "Most would probably rather die than join a Tribe of Ogres."
"Would you rather die than join a Tribe of Orcs?" Jason asked.
The Acting Chief looked away, remaining silent for a bit.
"I guess..." She started. "It depends on the way they would treat me." Narjis shrugged. "In any case, they’re Orcs, and we’re Ogres. What I would rather do means nothing to them. We’re not the same."
"Yes, I suppose." Jason answered after a moment. ’It’s funny really.’ He thought, relaxing back into his seat. ’To me, to the old me, Ogres, Orcs, Goblins... They were all the same. Monsters are Monsters.’ Jason chuckled to himself. "I guess we’ll need to test it out," He slapped the table and stood up. "How different Orcs and Ogres really are."
Narjis rose to her feet as well while Doro stayed seated, gulping and sweating.
"It’s a bit early, don’t you think?" The Acting Chief asked. "You have a whole month, remember?"
"Yeah," Jason smiled. "No time like the present, no time to waste." He stepped towards his tent before stopping and pointing at them. "The two of you will remain here. Narjis, the Tribe will be in your hands while we’re gone."
"I can come as well-"
"No," Jason interrupted her. "That was the whole point. As Acting Chief, you’re staying here to protect everyone and decide what needs to be done."
Narjis took a deep breath. She wanted to retort, but his tone left no space for it.
"Fine." She ended up nodding.
"I will need you to select who will come with me and who will remain here." Jason added. "Camelia, Vel, and I are a given. For the rest, it’s up to you."
’I assume Camelia is the cat’s name.’ Narjis thought with a nod.
"Make sure you leave enough to protect the place. We’ll be bringing the fight to the Orcs, so they won’t attack, at least."
"We only need to worry about the occasional Beast coming from the forest." Narjis rubbed her chin, thinking about how many actually needed to stay.
"Doro," Jason turned towards him. "I’ll need you to work with Narjis tomorrow."
"W-Work with Narjis?" He finally stood up from his seat and nodded. "Of course, what do you need me to do?"
The Chief turned his gaze towards the communal space.
"We have more than thirty males. Kind of a waste, don’t you think?"
Doro tilted his head while Narjis raised an eyebrow.
"While we’re gone to find the Orcs, you will convince and encourage the rest of the guys to train under Narjis and whoever remains as well."
"Train?" Doro asked. "Do you mean...?"
"You need to be able to defend yourselves." Jason nodded. "If you get used to fighting, you could actually become pretty strong."
"Like you?" Doro asked before thinking.
"Yeah, sure." The Chief answered after a moment.
Doro stared with a stunned expression for a couple of seconds.
"I-I’m on it!" He shouted, bowed, then ran towards the communal area.
The Chief stared at him leave, visibly surprised.
"I didn’t expect that..." Jason whispered. "I thought I would need to convince them and argue."
"Hm." Narjis shrugged. "I guess seeing a guy rise to be their Chief has made them quite enthusiastic and hopeful."
The two stood side by side, staring as Doro entered the area where most of the males remained.
"You have until tomorrow morning to decide who stays with you, and who leaves with me." Jason added.
"Hm." Narjis nodded, thinking about how best to split the female Ogres. "Yes, Chief." She nodded again, and the two parted ways.
A minute later,
"Aha..." Jason scratched his head.
Zzzz-
"Thanks for waiting for me." He sighed.
The Catgirl was completely out.