Time in a collapsing world

"You almost beat me to death."

Yaeri said helplessly, brushing off the crumbs on her hair.

"You... just saw everything?"

Karin quickly retracted her fist and threw the sackcloth in her hand far away, but she was reluctant to throw away the black mask, so she could only hide it behind her back.

"Yes, got it."

Yaegi nodded, fiddling with the petals of the flowers with her slender fingers, and looked at her with a smile, "I didn't expect you to be so bold, Kallen, to snatch someone from the guards in public... The Saint of Kaslana openly rebelled, this is really big news."

"..."

Kallen didn't understand what Yaezaki meant by "news" and looked out of the alley nervously. She was relieved when she found that no one else was chasing after them except Yaezaki. "I can't help it. I just think that the guards shouldn't have taken that girl away in a fit of rage... Yaezaki, you must keep it a secret from the others!"

"I'm not idle enough to go around saying... Here, your flowers." Yaeri handed the flowers to Kallen, "Don't throw them away next time."

"Actually, I will go back and get it later..."

Kallen checked it over and found no damage other than some dust.

"Where to go next?"

Yaeri asked, not affected by the little episode just now.

"Um... going to lunch?"

Kallen's stomach was growling. Running for such a distance had used up all the energy she had from breakfast.

"Okay, there's a store not far from here."

"Is there anything delicious in that restaurant?" Karin's eyes lit up. She could never resist delicious food.

"There are your favorite little cakes."

"So what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

Hiding the mask in her pocket, Kallen walked forward menacingly, but quickly stepped back and let Yaeri lead the way.

……

Yae Li took Kallen through several busy streets and came to a cake shop with an exquisite appearance. The shop's window displayed a variety of desserts, each of which was like a work of art, making people salivate.

Seeing Kallen moving her eyes with difficulty, Yaeri asked the manager to bring her one portion of each of the pastries she had just looked at, and then sat down at the table.

After about two minutes, the pastries are ready.

Kallen reluctantly picked up the knife and fork and savored the food like a lady, but she started to use her hands while eating. Before Yae Ri finished the second one, she had already cast her greedy eyes over here.

"...No wonder I heard Ying and the others say that they couldn't eat enough every time they went out with you."

Yaeri gave some of her portion to Kallen, who felt a little embarrassed, but her hands and mouth were quick and she finished the new portion in no time.

"Are you full?" Yaeri asked.

“I’m full~”

Karen hugged her slightly bulging belly and leaned back in the chair happily.

"I feel like you're specifically targeting the food in my bowl."

Yaeri was half full but didn't want to order any more. After she finished her last sip of tea and was about to get up, she suddenly heard a voice begging for mercy.

Turning around, I saw a mother who also ran a flower shop not far away, holding her daughter and kneeling towards a man in a priest's robe who was standing in front of her.

"Please forgive me for a few more days!"

"Forgiveness? There is no way to postpone the sin. The sin committed by your husband must be paid for by you!"

"..."

"what happened again?"

Karin looked over and her originally bright face suddenly drooped again when she saw the scene in front of her. Especially when she saw that the priest was about to attack the other party's daughter, she could no longer bear it and rushed over, slapped the priest's hand away, and blocked the mother and daughter.

"..."

Yaeri thought about it and walked over as well, but she stood behind the priest without anyone noticing.

"What are you doing?"

The arrogant priest didn't notice Yaeri behind him, and was still holding his hand that was hurt by Kallen's beating, and said with a gloomy face.

"I should be the one asking you this. As a priest of the destiny, you actually abused innocent women and children in broad daylight. What exactly do you want to do?!"

Karin rarely shows such an angry expression. The righteous girl will never allow the strong to bully the weak in front of her, and she will beat anyone she sees.

"Oh? Isn't this the Saint Lady of Kaslana? Our patriarch was defeated outside, but he is still so majestic in front of his own people?"

The priest saw the face of the man in front of him clearly and sneered, "What I am doing now is to clean up the mess you left behind. As a noble saint, you are playing the role of a good person? Don't forget, if it weren't for your father, Sir Francis, our destiny would not have ended up like this!"

"..."

Yae Ri, who was behind him, patted his shoulder.

"Stop arguing. Can't you see I'm arguing with someone?"

The priest moved his shoulders, trying to shake off the hand, but the next moment, his body froze and he turned his head sharply.

"You are... Oh, I remember now, you are also in the same group with the Kaslana family, the guy who rejected Apokalis' invitation!"

The priest seemed to dislike Yaezaki very much, and the hostility in his eyes almost overflowed, but he quickly restrained his expression.

"Forget it. You won't be able to jump around for many days anyway. Haha, let's wait and see!"

The priest left cursing, not even caring about the mother and daughter kneeling on the ground.

"Are you guys okay?"

Kallen wanted to help the mother's hand, but she deliberately avoided him and lowered her head, "Sorry, we are closed today..."

With that, she took her daughter into the store and never showed up again.

"..."

Kallen stared at the scene in a daze, gritting her teeth.

Innocent people were accused of crimes, while those who really deserved to be punished were not punished at all...

Since the failure of the war against Shenzhou launched by Tianming a year ago, the organization has taken a series of measures to raise funds in order to make up for the losses caused by the war and restore its strength. One of the important measures is to promote the so-called "indulgence" system.

This "indulgence" was promoted as a tool that could help people reduce their sins and obtain redemption. However, in reality, it was just an excuse for the Mandate of Heaven to extort money from the people. They forced the people to buy these indulgences and stipulated that everyone had to pay a certain amount of money to get them.

For those who could not afford the money, they faced great pressure and hardship. Many people had to spend all their money to buy indulgences, which led to difficult lives. In this way, the Mandate of Heaven gained a lot of wealth, further exacerbating social inequality and poverty.

Kallen thought it was ridiculous, but she was powerless to stop it. This time she watched an innocent mother and daughter being persecuted. Although she successfully stopped it, what about next time? What about the next time? She couldn't be there every time.

"…Li, what should I do?"

Kallen was a little confused, she looked at Yaeri who was slowly approaching.

"Perhaps you should ask Otto. His family is the one that has the main say in the destiny now. Or you can wait a few more years until he becomes the archbishop, and then all the problems can be solved naturally with a little persuasion~"

Yae Li still didn't want to intervene, but made some suggestions based on the foundation of this era, "It is temporarily impossible to revoke the [Indulgence], but... if you just want to vent your anger, you can tell Otto about it and ask him to fire this hateful weird uncle?"