"Anyone who acts against the Tribe's best interests will be judged and punished by me." Jason declared. "The next one will be made to climb up that cliff, so that someone can finally tell me what the fuck is on the other side."
They all stared silently, and Vel shook once his gaze fell on her.
"I don't know." She answered with a gulp. "This place marks the end of what the Humans call The Forest Of Groth."
"I see." Jason nodded. "Then I'll choose a couple of people to send over there."
There was no hesitation or doubt in his tone and voice anymore.
He had completely become the Chief of the Tribe.
Jason knew that now was the time to push forward, to grab the reins forcefully and tighten them.
The weakling(F Rank Hunter) tries to convince people to join his side and bargains with those around him. The strong(The D Rank Hunter), however, orders and, more importantly, believes that he will be obeyed.
"It might be easier to go through rather than up." Narjis commented.
"Hm?" Jason's turned towards her with a raised eyebrow. "Are you saying that the cave goes all the way through?"
The male Ogres gulped and shivered as they watched how calm and collected Jason was while talking in front of a person he had just killed.
"There's a door at the end of the cave," Vel answered. "Maybe halfway through."
"How does it look?"
They weren't able to give many details, but it was enough for Jason to understand what was on the other side of that door.
"From now on, no one sleeps in the cave." He announced. "No, the entry to the cave is forbidden."
Intricate golden designs on a large black door inside a cave could only mean one thing.
'There's a Boss Monster in there.' Jason thought. 'Thankfully, they haven't opened the door yet.'
Boss Monsters exist at the end of a Dungeon, but they won't leave the Boss Room unless the Boss Doors are opened.
Even when a Dungeon Break occurs, the Boss Monster will only walk through the Dungeon Gate if a Challenger opened its doors beforehand.
'But this isn't a Dungeon Gate.' He clicked his tongue. 'A natural Dungeon that's part of this world?'
Jason's eyes widened as he imagined a Dungeon Gate appearing at the cave's mouth while the male Ogres rest inside the cave, leading to the Ogres being trapped between the cave and the Boss Doors.
'If Hunters go through the Dungeon Gate in that situation, it would only be natural to assume that the Ogres are part of the Dungeon as well, and that they're protecting those doors.'
Jason wondered if Dungeon Gates worked that way in the world in which the Dungeon exists.
He wondered if the World of Urd'Amazonia was connected to Earth through a Dungeon Gate.
'Or… Maybe it will be connected to Earth later.' Jason frowned and shook his head.
Now wasn't the time to think. With everyone listening and hanging on to his every word, it was time to continue issuing orders.
"Doro."
"Y-Yes, Chief?" He stuttered and stepped forward.
"From now on, you'll be sleeping in that hut." Jason said while pointing at the hut closest to the tent. "It goes without saying that the tent is mine. You can bring whoever you want to share it with you. However, I will need you to be ready for my orders, ready whenever I need you."
"Yes, Chief!" Doro shouted. "I have three brothers, Chief! Could they share it with me, Chief?"
"That's fine," Jason answered, and Doro turned towards his siblings, eyes shining. 'Doro has a good grasp on the dynamics inside the Tribe. I'll rely on him to tell me what the others think. The gossip he shared with me did turn out useful.'
The new Chief turned towards Narjis.
"That one will be yours." Jason pointed at the hut second closest to the tent. "Narjis is now Acting Chief. Whenever I am away or indisposed for whatever reason, the Tribe is in her hands."
"I accept." Narjis nodded.
Vel frowned momentarily, but no one seemed to notice.
The new Chief continued assigning the huts to their new owners.
The hut closest to the cave and cliff was given to Kon, who had the right to bring whoever she wanted in there. Jason chose to give them the hut on the outskirts of the village, the one that rested on a path, with the cave now off-limits, that would rarely be taken. Doing so meant giving Kon(And Fia) all the privacy she(They) desired.
A hut was assigned to Ayn and the two brothers she loved, and another to Fan and her brothers.
As the first four female Ogres to accept his leadership, they more than deserved the huts.
'...' Vel's foot tapped the ground restlessly. 'That's sixteen people and five huts assigned. Only five more left.'
She, of course, knew about Fia and Kon, though the two had no idea their secret had been discovered by Vel a long time ago.
With the cave being off-limits, it meant the remaining 26 Ogres needed to share 5 huts, or so Vel thought.
'Wait…' Her eyes narrowed. 'Five huts remain, and five of us females.' She nodded to herself. 'Surely he will want to remain in good terms with us after having killed one of us, so-'
"The four of you can choose a hut each," Jason said to the female Ogres who had only accepted his leadership once he put an axe in Ena's back.
The male Ogres groaned, having expected to be favored.
The groaning only lasted for a second though, as they remembered that Ena's corpse still lay there.
"The final hut will go to those most deserving," Jason explained. "We're going to build a communal resting place for everyone else." He turned towards the space at the center of the village. "Right there."
Jason pointed at the forest.
"Bring trunks of wood, plenty of vines to keep them together, and a lot of those big and wide leaves I saw growing from those trees. The latter will be used to create a roof and will hang down from the horizontal trunks above to create walls."
"So those big leaves will act like the fabric around the tent?" Narjis asked. "Why bother?"
"Attackers will think twice before pouncing," Jason explained. "They won't attack right away if they don't have eyes on their target, on what's on the other side of those leaves."
"I see." She nodded.
Silence fell on the village, and Jason clapped his hands.
"Chop, chop. Get to work if you don't want to sleep in the rain, or lose your current resting place."
The female Ogres exchanged glances before shrugging and starting to walk towards the village.
"Sleep in the rain…?" Doro muttered.
He had been so engrossed by Jason's words that it took him a while to notice that it had, indeed, started raining.
"U… Us too?" He asked, gaze alternating between the female Ogres and Jason.
"Get to work." The Chief repeated. "We're building this place for you since you're so numerous, so don't slack off."
'Don't you mean we're so numerous?' A couple of male Ogres thought, before following the females to gather the necessary supplies.
"No one is sleeping until we get this done." The Chief added with a cold voice. "Hurry."
The male Ogres gulped and ran after the females to catch up to them.
Jason was left alone, with the exception of,
"I get what you're doing," Vel muttered. "You want me to work for it, huh?" She sighed. "Fine, I'll do it."
The previous Chief thought the hut was already hers. But,
'I have other ideas. Still,' Jason thought to himself with a smile as he watched her walk away. 'You should take part in the work.'
With every member of the Tribe gone, Jason stretched his arms up.
"Hm…"
[You have gained the Title of "Ogre Chief".]
"Guess that means I can take Camelia's collar off…" Jason muttered to himself as he stepped towards his tent. "But should I?"