The mayor interjected first.
"Well said, Mister Faust! My guests—these people have saved my life and yours at some expense to them. Please, treat them with respect!"
"Hmph! Only because this is your request, Matiliy… But I will be watching them." The angry nobleman sat down and folded his hands over his chest. "Let's speak business instead. I'm too old to stay up late."
Reynard let out a breath and relaxed a little in his chair. On a chair next to him, Marien humphed and raised her chin with visible disdain toward all the haters.
Matiliy nodded to the old nobleman and waved his hand.
"Of course. I didn't ask you to gather on such short notice, when we all still bear the traces of the last disaster, to waste your time. Friends, I know you burn with outrage as much as I do. For all this time, we kept our heads low in fear of magi and their might. You all know that even hiring foreign mercenaries wouldn't have helped us to gain our independence."
