"I hope you're happy with yourself."
Jason had asked Doro for as much information about every female Ogre as possible.
Unfortunately, he did not have much to say about Narjis.
"Vel goes through the trouble of getting guys into her tent and forcing them to spread rumors though. I guess she doesn't want anyone to know that she doesn't… You know? The Chief MUST enjoy the village's so-called spoils after all, is what she thinks everyone thinks. That's how the old Chief was, you know, in the old village. Unfortunately for her, we quickly realized what she was doing. We might lie to the females, but us males need to stick together, right?" Doro had explained.
All that Jason knew was that Narjis mostly kept to herself, and very rarely engaged with the males of the Tribe.
Just like Vel, it seemed she was celibate.
'I am pretty happy with myself right now.' Jason decided to keep that response to himself.
Things were going rather well and peacefully. It would be a shame to mess that up by pouring oil on an already shaking with anger Ogre.
"This Tribe, this village… It won't amount to anything."
"Because a male is its Chief?"
Narjis turned in his direction, eyes wide with quiet rage.
"Because we lost our Chief. Or rather," She corrected herself. "Because our Chief lost her tits."
Jason raised an eyebrow at that, but assumed that losing one's tits was equivalent in this world to losing one's balls in the one he came from.
"How did you find us?" Jason asked after a moment.
"I know you've been talking with the others to bring them over to your side." Narjis scoffed. "It's pathetic. Truly a male's way of becoming Chief."
"In that case, the female way would have been killing Vel." He said. "Is that what you would have wanted to see happen?"
Narjis stared at him for a moment.
There wasn't a shred of self-doubt or insecurity in his face or gaze, truly as if he thought himself capable of killing Vel.
"It would have proven that you had some tits at least." Narjis snarked and started walking away.
"I have all the tits I need," Jason added, following her from a safe distance.
"I suppose challenging a strong female like Vel and betting on your victory does require some." She muttered without stopping or turning towards him.
"Why do you think this village won't amount to anything?" He asked. "In the first place, what did you want it to amount to?"
Narjis stopped and turned around with a frown that let him know she thought his question was ridiculous, maybe even idiotic.
Jason turned in the village's direction, far in the distance.
"Some of the males came with you because they wanted freedom," He said. "Some of the females, because they couldn't be the males they wanted to be with, others because they couldn't live the way they wanted to there, in your… Our original village."
"So?" Narjis's frown deepened. "Get to the point."
"You didn't leave and come to this place to escape something, nor to find something." Jason continued staring into the distance. "As you said, you wanted to build something."
The female Ogre's eyebrow twitched. His words were annoying her.
"I can do it." He said before turning towards, confidently maintaining eye contact.
"Do… What?"
Narjis almost wanted to gulp.
She knew exactly what he was going to say. Still, she wanted to hear him say it.
"I can build a Tribe capable of rivaling the one we come from."
The female Ogre stared for a moment, took a deep breath, and turned away.
"Ridiculous."
"It is not."
"It is." Narjis doubled down while continuing to walk away. "Our numbers are far too low. The ratio of males to females is all messed up. Now, you're going around telling our females they can bang whenever they want."
"What's wrong with that?"
"Are you stupid or something? There are only eleven of us. Eleven. The males cannot fight even if their lives depended on it."
"I think they could put up a fight," Jason argued. 'They definitely can. I was far weaker than an Ogre, and even I put up a fight.'
"Yeah? Maybe with us leading them. But now that they're free to fuck like rabbits? What happens when Orcs attack us in six months and half of our fighters are pregnant? What if… They're all pregnant? What then?"
Jason came to a stop.
'Pregnancies completely slipped my mind.'
All of a sudden, Vel controlling the males and females' mating seemed to make more sense. Separating them at night almost seemed logical.
"We can't afford them doing whatever they want." Narjis sighed. "Vel, at least, understood that much."
"We just need to increase our numbers before the females get too pregnant to fight."
"Great. How do you plan on doing that?"
"By taking over the Orc and Ogre Tribes."
Narjis stopped dead in her tracks.
She was stumped. Not just because of the answer, but because of how casually he had uttered the words.
"I guess Vel was right earlier…" The female Ogre whispered.
"About?"
"You hitting your head."
"..." Jason took a deep breath. "It can be done. I know it can."
"I believe you." Narjis said while raising a hand. "I believe that you truly believe that. You're delusional. Absolutely delusional."
She started walking again.
Jason didn't follow her, tired of going after her.
"Is it any different than what you and Vel had planned? Was your plan not as delusional?"
"I suppose it was." She sighed. "The plan was stupid from the start. It was ridiculous to think we could carve out a part of this world and make it our own."
"Give me one month."
"Hm?" Narjis raised an eyebrow and stopped walking, curiosity piqued.
"I don't plan on spending all of my time in the village, so sooner or later I would have had to nominate someone."
"What are you talking about?"
"If my plan still seems ridiculous to you in a month, then you can have the position of Chief."
Narjis stared, dumbfounded, before laughing out loud.
"Another wager? That's too funny."
Jason ignored her laughter.
"I'll need someone to act as Chief when I'm away, and your intentions seem to be aligned with what is best for this nascent village and Tribe."
"So?"
"You'll be Acting Chief while I'm away. And if I don't come back or end up falling short of your expectations, then you can become Chief."
The position of Chief being tossed around so carelessly all day was starting to annoy Narjis.
Still, it wasn't a bad proposition.
"Shouldn't that role go to Vel, who already has experience as Chief?"
"No," Jason smiled. A smile that sent a shiver down Narjis's spine. "I have other plans for Vel."
After talking to Vel, Narjis had almost decided to leave the Tribe and wander into the wilderness.
But now,
"I suppose…"
[Current number of Female Ogres that have accepted your leadership: 6/6.]
"We can give that a try." She whispered.
Jason smirked and,
"Males are often all talk, so I'm not getting my hopes up though," Narjis added, and walked away. "Lagos."
He pumped his fist as she disappeared behind the trees, and turned in the village's direction.
'Wait, Lagos? Oh… She's the one who remembered my face earlier.'
The fact that she had recognized a lost Ogre's face and name only made her more worthy of being Acting Chief in his absence.
'Let's go…' Jason stepped towards the village. 'Back to my Tribe," He smirked. 'My village.'