The village has a slightly different atmosphere when the chief isn't here.

Durghan looked past the gathering of Orcs swinging their weapons in time to the people who were enjoying their rest day. The women, with no kills trickling in, worked on other projects like sewing, spinning Silfela fibers, and weaving decorative plates out of pine needles and various small stones or animal teeth.

Decorative weaving was… one of the chief’s less useful ideas, but the women enjoyed decorating their homes with something other than animal pelts for once.

Really, they don't change, Durghan held back a sigh.

Still, Durghan was feeling relaxed. Even though the heart of summer was approaching, he was feeling relaxed.

Normally, around this time, the women would start to get… restless. Summer was, in a nutshell, Orc mating season. Usually, at this time, strong male Orcs like Durghan would be swarmed with “challengers.” However, the general feeling about the women was that he was already claimed by Chief Vyra. Thus, many of the women weren’t pressing the men yet. Instead, they calmly decorated their homes and practiced their housekeeping while waiting for the village meets.

There’s only another week left to prepare. I should ask Chief Vyra what her plans are. Hm?

An Orc who was late for the training session trotted up. He had probably been

participating in the remedial lessons.

“Back from remediation?”

“Yes, Durghan!”

That was quick. I wonder what Fiara’s up to… probably studying magic again.

“Fine. Get in line.”

Another Orc trotted up.

“Are you coming from the remedial lessons too?”

The Orc grunted. “Mph. Nope. Overslept.”

Durghan made a dark face. “Twenty laps around the village. Go.”

Well, Durghan would go easy on him after he finished the laps. He was honest, after all. Durghan wanted to encourage honesty. He… had seen an Orc lie to the chief’s face about dropping a nice white pelt in mud, blaming someone else for it. A few inches to the left, and she would have blown his head off. There was still a small crater in the ground at that spot.

“The fact that you think trust is less valuable than a simple pelt is astonishing,” she had said while emitting a ridiculous amount of killing intent.

Through events like this, Durghan had come to know more about their chief’s values. She wouldn't get angry even if someone made a mistake or failed a task: “As long as they learn from it, there’s no problem.” However, if somebody were to deliberately disturb a task… It hadn't happened yet, so Durghan didn't know. He wondered if she would just kill them on the spot? Well, probably not… maybe not…

Anyway, the training session finished after about two hours. In that time, Chief Vyra had returned once to deliver a Magic Beast corpse. Some of the women had dropped their other tasks to dismantle it.

Hm? A War Monkey?

Durghan thought back to when he had recruited the starving Goblins for the village. As he was guiding them through the forest, they had been ambushed by a War Monkey. It was in an agitated state because it didn't have a weapon, so it seemed to want to steal Durghan’s axe. For that, it promptly had its skull cleaved open. Too bad the corpse was stolen by a Vulture plant.

At that time, the Goblins had been thrilled by his display of strength. Apparently, their village was in such a state originally because a War Monkey had attacked it. Durghan saw their admiration and used the chance to talk up the chief before they would even meet her. Absolutely, they should know what an amazing person Chief Vyra was. They should understand that she was even more skilled than he was. Any chance to spread the glory of Chief Vyra to the uninformed was more than welcome.

Since there wasn't much to do after the training ended, Durghan gathered a small group of restless Orcs and went to go gather plant cuttings for the Goblins to cultivate. They borrowed one of the baskets the women had woven out of pine needles to hold what was gathered. Durghan marveled at the convenience of it.

They made a few trips, and the Goblins were happy to get something in the ground.

After dropping off the third basket, Durghan saw that the chief had returned. It seems they bested a powerful Magic Beast. For a moment, he felt a pang of jealousy toward the group allowed to hunt by the chief’s side, but he brushed it off. There was another matter to discuss.

“Welcome back, Chief Vyra.”

“Ah, Durghan. Thanks. I learned a lot this time…”

“I know you just arrived, but is it alright to ask for your thoughts on a matter?”

“Eh? Sure, go ahead.”

“Mating season is almost upon us. I was wondering if you had any plans for the village meets, or if things would be just as usual.”

The chief made a deeply serious look. Could it be she had it in mind to make some drastic changes? Whatever it was, he would support her decision. Even if her decision was him, he would accept it easily. Wait, no. He shouldn't let his mind wander to strange places.

As Durghan was waiting in anticipation, Chief Vyra slowly opened her mouth and furrowed her brow.

“Durghan, Somehow it feels like you're expecting a lot, but I'm only one month old. What is this mating season and what are the village meets?”

Oh, right. The chief was still very young, so there were various things she didn't know about. Ah! Come to think of it, had Oolga told her about where babies come from yet? A normal Orc mother would have explained it by now, but lady Oolga spent many years as a warrior, so she lacked a certain amount of feminine instinct.

W-well, the chief had to know about these things. Since it had come to be his responsibility to teach it, so be it!

“B-by any chance, is Chief Vyra unaware of how babies are made?”

“Nn? No, that much I understand.”

Thank goodness. Durghan breathed a sigh of relief.

“Well, Chief Vyra, allow me to explain.”