"Hm?"
"They have no reason to suspect that we left our original Tribe. The clash between us, Ogres and the Orcs, has been going on for a while, and this is just another incident that will induce a couple of battles between them."
"So you took from the Orcs and left the Tribe you ran away from to deal with the consequences?" Jason asked, genuinely impressed. "The Ogres will be too busy dealing with the Orcs to even look for you all."
"Yes," She nodded with a sigh. "It was a good plan."
"So?"
"We found this place at the edge of the forest and decided to carve out our own village." Vel explained. "Unfortunately, the Orcs don't act the way we do, the way our original Tribe does."
"How so?"
"Our Tribe is fully concentrated in one area. The village we're from is almost a fortress that can't be attacked." She answered. "The Orcs, on the other hand, are more spread out, scattered into different smaller villages. They might be slightly weaker than us, but they're also more numerous."
"And I'm assuming this place is actually quite close to one of their villages."
"It is," Vel sighed. "The location is good. The cave and the cliff are to our advantage, but going out to hunt leads us to run into Orcs quite frequently."
"So one group of Orcs noticed you and followed you here."
"Yes, well…" She frowned again. "You were there."
"Interesting," Jason whispered to himself. 'Her plan was good enough to convince the other female Ogres, but convincing males to come must have required quite a bit of planning and scheming as well. Additionally, it's unlikely that the females would leave with no males amongst them. Vel needed both, and each to make the other leave.'
"Of course," She lowered her head, dejected. "It all fell apart when the Cat turned out to have a pussy. But, by then, it was already too late."
"Had to commit fully, huh?"
"Right…"
A moment later, Vel raised an eyebrow.
'Why am I speaking to him? Because of him, I… In front of everyone-'
Loud footsteps approaching quickly caught the attention of both Ogres.
She walked past the trees with loud and confident stomps.
'Damn.' Jason thought to himself.
While he stood at around 190 centimeters tall, and Vel, one head taller, at around 200, the female Ogre joining them was even more gigantic.
'She must be at least 220 centimeters tall…' He gulped. 'I like tall women, always have… But there is a limit.'
The fact that she was so incredibly muscular made her all the more imposing, and almost frightening.
'Her shoulders are as big as my head.' Jason thought as she came to a stop.
He hadn't noticed one of the arrows getting closer.
On top of her shone the name Narjis.
"Conversing with the enemy?" She asked after walking past Jason, completely ignoring him. "I'm not going to wait forever, Vel."
"I said that I needed time to think."
"You've had enough time." Narjis barked. "It's time to do something now."
"Such as?"
Jason listened quietly.
"The males are overjoyed with this. They seriously believe that you're stepping down as Chief and giving the reins to another male. We need to let them know that it's not happening, NOW."
Vel stared at her silently.
"I don't care what kind of stupid wager you made. It's time to clean up this mess before everyone starts getting confused. We left because we're trying to do something here, right? To build something." Narjis explained. "We can't build anything if everyone is confused about who the Chief is. Chaos will kill us before we even get anywhere."
"What do you propose then?" Vel asked with narrow eyes.
"I'll gather everyone, and you'll tell them the truth."
"Which is?" Vel raised an eyebrow.
"That this stupid wager was nothing other than a joke," Narjis stepped closer. "Or a mistake," And closer, "Or whatever you want to tell them." And even closer.
Despite sitting so many steps away, even Jason felt pressured as the gigantic Narjis towered over the seated Vel.
The latter kept her gaze on Narjis' face and slowly stood up.
While the difference in height and stature was obvious, the difference in strength… Not so much.
"I'm not doing any of that." Vel retorted.
While her face seemed perfectly fine, her eyes were fiery, throwing daggers at the female Ogre towering over her.
Jason's eyes widened as an unexpected System message popped up.
[Current number of Female Ogres that have accepted your leadership: 5/6.]
'Seriously…?' Jason thought, gaze moving back to the two.
The message spoiled her intent before she could say the words.
"I was debating it earlier, but now that I'm being told to do it, I just know that I can't." Vel said, staring directly at Narjis. "I gave my word, and that's all I have right now."
Vel chose a side.
"I bet the position of Chief, and I lost. I do not know how or why exactly, but I did lose." Vel added. "That's all there is to it."
The more she talked, the more disgust seeped into Narjis' face.
Vel stood ready in case the stand-off was about to turn physical, but it didn't.
"So you're just going to let it all go?" Narjis groaned. "The whole reason I decided to follow… You're giving up on it all?"
Noticing that Narjis wasn't going to attack, Vel simply walked past her.
"I'm not giving up on anything." She added while walking away. "I'm just honouring a bet that I made." Vel stopped after taking a couple of steps, before continuing. "I'm accepting the consequences of my actions." She started walking again. "I have no further reason or explanation beyond that."
Even once Vel was gone, Narjis remained standing in the exact same position.
Jason noticed that her clenched fists were shaking, veins bulging on her arms and shoulders.
'She's not going to take her frustration and anger on me…'
Gulp.
'Is she?'