A few days before the attack on Kilaba.
Eren had branded all 24 Orcinas last night with the Sin of Lust. He branded them while he was in his human form and kept tabs on their psyche using his soul sense. All of them passed the butcher's screening process that he had developed thanks to his soul sense. The Orcinas, with their clarity, were completely loyal to the butcher now.
Despite receiving external help in the form of a supplementary potion, the guy was still exhausted the next day. Yet, that didn't stop him from having a smile of satisfaction on his face. Or from conducting the meeting he had with Baran and his trusted Orc Leaders. It was as if the butcher had received his own version of clarity when he did it with 25 Orcinas at once.
***
Gathering hall inside the chieftain's house.
"My liege, do you want us to go to war with Kilaba's tribe?"
With worry lines on his forehead, Baran asked. The monster could only get over the fact that all his untouched treasures had been claimed by the new chieftain.
"No. I specifically said I only want to get rid of Kilaba. Just come with me and point me towards your old tribe's location. And I'll take care of the rest."
Eren ate a lightning-mana-influenced apple that was suitable for his rank as he spoke. Fruits like these were relatively common ranking resources in Badlands. It was Raadoo who had suggested these fruits to Eren, saying that chieftains would usually consume these fruits after tending to their treasures. To regain their spent vigor.
The Orc Leaders looked awkwardly at Baran after their new chieftain said something like that. They didn't dare to object to their newly elected leader in human form. They had given that job to Baran.
Baran's creases on his forehead increased when he heard the butcher's statements. He coughed a bit before reacting calmly.
"My liege, Kilaba is not a street hooligan in Badlands that you could kill just by finding him. He has an entire tribe backing him. You can't deal with an entire tribe with your individual powers, can you?"
Eren was busy eating the lightning fruits that tasted just like an unranked apple, except that they gave his gums a slight jolt when he took a bite. It was surprising for the first time. But then Eren got used to eating these purple lightning apples.
After taking the last bite out of the last fruit, Eren chewed it like he was enjoying the jolts he was receiving from the bites. He only replied once he gulped the content down.
"Why would I target the entire tribe when I just want to kill him?"
Eren looked at Baran with a puzzled expression. He thought he had made his intentions clear to Barn. Yet, the former chieftain had organized this meeting with his trusted circle to discuss this topic.
Baran pressed his temples and massaged them a bit before answering Eren.
"My liege, this is not how an Orc fights. Especially if they are chieftains of the tribe. Kilaba could challenge me openly because he didn't have a tribe at that time. A battle between two chieftains would get their tribes involved.
Why do you think I fought wars with the tribes I assimilated with? If you want to take over Kilaba's tribe…"
Eren shook his head and interrupted Baran with his words.
"I only want Kilaba because he is an Orc Lord. a powerful Orc Lord at that. I don't care about what happens to his tribe afterward."
Eren was thinking that Raadoo had given him a wise suggestion about the food as he said that. With thoughts of stocking up on these fruits running through his mind, the butcher continued.
"Look, Baran. I know I don't know or care much about Orc customs. But you need to understand one thing. If any of you Orcs want to follow me, then forget about the customs that restrict you from doing the things you want to achieve. Get rid of them from your mind.
The so-called clarity you have gained needs to be refined to suit your needs as per your current situation. Don't depend on it so much that you forget what you have learned by living here on this cutthroat land.
The clarity you have received would work against you in your favor if it restricted you in your growth."
Eren said and looked at the Orc Leader. He could see that they had difficulty reading faces at that time. That alone told the butcher what they were thinking. So he looked at them with his narrowed eyes before adding on.
"Listen here guys, you are not on the monster continent anymore.
What is it called? Yes! Land of the Faithless. An apt name I must say. You are on the continent Anfang where only profits matter.
That's why I like this place. This continent as a whole.
You don't need a strong backer to survive here. Not really. It's controlled chaos here. One just needs to know how to make chaos work in their favor to reap benefits from any adversity.
If I want to kill someone that I know I can kill without getting my hands burnt in the process, I'll kill that person in a heartbeat. Without worrying about customs, processes, or morals. I want you to change your ways and adapt to this mindset.
Fuck those Orc rules. Fuck the customs of the monster continent.
I wasn't planning on it but, for your better or otherwise, I am this tribe's chieftain. So I want my tribe to follow my logic. My way of doing things. A monster army that follows my commands whether they are in line with the rules of the monsters or not.
Do you understand?"
When Eren spoke his last word, he spread his soul sense to every Orc Leader and Baran in range. In the next moment, the Orc Leaders felt like they were immersed in a sea of fire and lightning storms at once. They felt that there were a bunch of punching daggers flying in the air and cutting their bodies up.
They looked at their chieftain in that state and saw him staring at them with his cold eyes. It was as if they were being read like an open book in front of him. As if he was looking into the depths of their soul.
"Shilson, is it? If you think about leaving the tribe one more time, I'd have you leave this continent. And not through the back door, which the inhabitants of that continent use to enter Anfang. Do you understand what I mean?"
Eren spoke looking at the guy taking a knee in front of him at the extreme right. The guy had sweat dripping on his forehead when he heard the butcher's words.
'He… he can read minds.'
Shilson thought to himself while controlling his shock to the extent of his abilities. Yet, he was unable to completely hide them. He also looked at the butcher with a fearful expression in his eyes.
The butcher chuckled when he felt Shilson's emotions with his soul sense and replied.
"Hehe. Yeah, Shilson. You can say that I read minds.
Isn't the only chieftain you'd ever have in your foreseeable life cool and amazing?"
Eren asked rhetorically while smirking at every Orc Leader present in the audience. They all looked at him with vigilant eyes and fearful expressions before nodding in agreement.
