By the time Jason made it back to the center of the village, a big crowd had formed.
The male Ogres were all standing together, though some of them veered slightly to the sides.
Ayn was standing a couple of steps to the left of the group, and the male Ogres closest to her seemed to have trouble tearing their eyes off of her.
On the right side of the group stood Fan, who had trouble taking her eyes off her "brothers".
Away from the group and standing with their backs against the walls of the closest hut were Fia and Kon. They weren't standing as close as they had been earlier when away from the rest.
Vel was the one standing furthest. She had her back turned to the village, and seemed to be staring at the tall cliff on the other side.
Before Jason could make it to the center, the rest of the female Ogres appeared from behind one of the huts and stood as a group of their own.
Narjis arrived moments after Jason.
'I guess she took a detour just so we wouldn't get here together.' He chuckled internally. 'That's kinda cute.'
Calling a 7-foot+ mountain of muscle cute felt a bit weird, but weirder things had happened since waking up in this world.
The whole tribe was finally together.
Six of the eleven female Ogres were on his side, as well as all of the thirty-two males.
"I hope this isn't what I think it is." Ena, one of the female Ogres standing together, shouted. "Vel! What is this?"
Jason watched silently. 'It would have been better to meet the rest of the female Ogres before doing this but…'
Vel finally turned away from the tall cliff to face them.
She stared at each of the different Ogres standing for a moment before crossing her arms and shrugging.
"I'm not going to explain myself any further." The previous Chief said. "I lost."
"You lost…?"
"Are you kidding?"
"We deserve more explanation than that!"
Ena gritted her teeth and, for a moment, her hand hung above the axe dangling from the belt around her waist.
"If you're not happy with it, you're free to challenge the new Chief," Vel added dismissively.
'Let's not go there,' Jason took a deep breath. "The previous Chief bet her position and lost it to me," He declared. "I am now this Tribe's Chief, and you will give me the respect that I deserve."
The five female Ogres were seething.
What previously had made them chuckle and laugh was now making their blood boil.
The joke had run for too long.
"Some of you might have known me as Lagos," He continued. "From now on, you will call me Jason. Jason, your Chief."
Before Jason could continue or the females could interject, the male Ogres cheered, whistled, and clapped as loudly as they could.
Each time that Jason's lips parted, thinking that the cheering was dying, they doubled down, cheering even louder and more energetically.
'They're not going to let me make a speech, are they?'
Jason momentarily turned towards Narjis, who was standing a couple of steps behind him.
She was standing tall and perfectly still.
'Couldn't my second in command be a bit more optimistic about this?'
Just as he turned back around,
"Since you're not taking them yourself," Vel sighed.
She had already walked up to him, and was taking off the necklaces around her neck.
Jason reached forward to grab them, but Vel simply tossed them into the air. They perfectly fell around his neck.
"That decides it, then." Narjis finally spoke, and the noise died down for a moment. "Our Tribe has a new Chief."
Seeing him surrounded by not the old Vel, the previous Chief, but also Narjis, who was widely considered to be the only person fit to be Chief other than Vel, the crowd exploded again.
This time, even some of the female Ogres had started clapping and whistling, namely Ayn, Fan, Kon, and Fia.
Vel simply scratched her head while sighing, while Narjis stood with her arms crossed.
'I guess it's implied that these two will be my number 2 and 3. That would be for the best…'
The new Chief's thoughts trailed off as the crowd started chanting.
"Jason! Jason! Jason!"
Even the female Ogres that had accepted him joined in.
"Jason! Jason! Jason!"
Unlike the cheering that had taken place after Vel surrendered, this one hit him like a truck.
His name was being shouted by all. More than thirty people, though Monsters, were shouting his name.
Jason remained standing for a moment, dumbfounded.
He even shook when Narjis took hold of his wrist and held his hand up high, which only made the crowd go even wilder.
The male Ogres, the previous Chief, the previously second in command… They were all on his side.
'This… Is a female-dominated world, right?' Jason asked telepathically while the cheering continued.
[Correct.]
'In a way, it means that the females act like men, and the males act like women, right?'
[It is an oversimplification, but correct in many cases.]
'I can't help but feel that this answer, this solution…' Jason's eyes narrowed. 'Is a bit too feminine. Worse than that, it's a bit too… Human.'
Ironically, Humans had never cheered for him this way.
And as Jason's eyes darkened, memories of his past spring forth.