The Orc Royal Court sent envoys every year, demanding that each tribe pay large quantities of cattle, sheep, furs, and even warriors to join the royal army.
These demands were often harsh and merciless. Those who refused would be branded traitors and purged.
The humans, by contrast, collected only a token amount of furs and a small quantity of supplies. They did not forcibly conscript people or livestock. To these tribes, such tribute was almost negligible.
Therefore, when the Expeditionary Force decided to abandon the four eastern water sources and withdraw to Blackwater Lake, many tribes did not choose to remain where they were. Instead, they voluntarily followed the Expeditionary Force westward.
They believed that living beside humans was safer than facing Alba's fury.
Of course, this choice also concealed a deep-seated fear.
They knew that Alba would not easily forgive their "betrayal," and the only thing they could do was put as much distance as possible between themselves and the coming storm under human protection.
The token taxation policy the Prairie Expeditionary Force adopted toward the local tribes was not a temporary decision. It came from the advice of the military scholar Yarvis.
Yarvis was from Scholar's Tower in Gabella and was already well versed in the histories of various races. After the war with the orcs broke out, he returned to the Northern Three Territories and followed Andrew's Expeditionary Force into the prairie, observing and recording the customs and structures of the various prairie tribes. He was now an important adviser to the Expeditionary Force.
He had observed that although the orc tribes on the prairie submitted to the royal court, their ties with one another were loose. Once the royal court lost its deterrent power, these tribes would readily turn to a new strongman.
Based on this