The room of councilmen and women continued to murmur amongst themselves after the Machina delegate had left, but once Riyala spoke in a calm voice, everyone quieted down and turned to her attentively.
"We have heard the orders from the council, and it is mandated that we follow them. I want everyone to begin gathering the funds necessary for payment."
One of the council members, who was a member of the wyvernrider tribe, spoke up calmly.
"Priestess, what of the humans? Are we really going to shoulder the burden of their debt as well? Does it not seem… excessive?"
"And what is so excessive about it? When we were in need, did the humans not come to our aid?"
Riyala pinned the woman with a deep stare, and this forced the woman to look away like a child being berated by their parent! But someone else spoke up from the side with a deep voice. This time it was a man who was part of the mining tribe located east of the Flaming Forest, and he spoke with a small frown.
