The old man was missing a front tooth, and as he begged, spittle sprayed onto the sacerdotes’ robes.
Seeing this scene, Dolosa felt as if her head had suddenly doubled in size.
Sure enough, she had run into another “seeing injustice and rushing to help” situation.
She quickly scanned the old man all around and noticed no children nearby, letting out a slight sigh of relief.
This one could be helped, this one could be helped.
Dolosa watched Liang Lai’s movements and saw her furrow her brows before stepping toward the scene.
Instantly, Dolosa realized the kind-hearted leftover lady was once again trying to “meddle in other people’s business.”
So she straightened her back and proudly walked forward first.
“What are you doing?” Dolosa stood behind the two Green Robed Sacerdotes and asked loudly.
The two Green Robed Sacerdotes were startled by the sudden voice and immediately turned around.
They initially saw only Dolosa rushing up and were about to scold her when Liang Lai appeared right behind Dolosa.
“What are you two doing?” Liang Lai also asked.
Seeing the pure white Saintess Robe, the two Green Robed Sacerdotes instantly wilted.
“Third Saintess Lady…”
The two sacerdotes respectfully saluted Liang Lai.
Although she had been in this world for two months, Liang Lai still wasn’t used to the formalities, but she nodded with a pretentious air and placed her hands behind her back like an elder lord.
“Don’t ask first, what exactly are you two doing here?”
Liang Lai’s eyes pierced past the Green Robed Sacerdotes to the trembling old man clutching a jar behind them.
“Hey,” she gestured toward the old man with her chin, “you tell me, what’s going on? Are they trying to snatch your jar?”
The old man shrank back, his eyes filled with pleading and fear.
“I-I…”
He trembled and couldn’t speak.
Seeing his timid posture, the two Green Robed Sacerdotes immediately lost their temper.
One of them stepped forward and kicked him hard, while the other rubbed his hands together like a fly, grinning as he did so.
“Oh dear, Third Saintess Lady… this wretched man has been hiding Light Honey, so we planned to teach him a lesson…”
Liang Lai frowned and grabbed the kicking sacerdote.
“Speak properly. No need for rough hands.”
The two Green Robed Sacerdotes exchanged glances but didn’t care much, simply assuming the Saintess didn’t want them to be too rough and embarrass the Church, so they repeatedly nodded in agreement.
Liang Lai turned to the old man.
“Hey, old sir, is what they say true?” She crouched down to meet his eyes.
The old man looked at the Saintess, then at the two glaring Green Robed Sacerdotes behind her. Finally, swallowing hard, he closed his eyes as if giving up.
“I… I’ve already provided the Church with the Light Honey I was supposed to collect. Now, what’s left in this jar is extra! It belongs to me… I can allocate it as I please…”
Just as she thought.
Liang Lai nodded knowingly.
“Alright,” she patted the old man’s shoulder and stood up again. “I believe you, old sir.”
“Now, you two should go back to whatever you were doing. Stop bullying others. I’ve seen this more than once here—it’s always you Green Robed guys…”
Liang Lai, of course, knew the Green Robed Sacerdotes were the lowest rank in the Church, so they had to resort to violent means to personally extort the Dustfolk, while the higher-ranking Church members used much subtler—and far more ruthless—methods.
The faces of the two Green Robed Sacerdotes stiffened for a moment. Then they exchanged glances again and hesitated before one stepped forward.
“Saintess Lady, this man is lying!”
He spoke with righteous indignation, almost convincing Liang Lai.
But Liang Lai didn’t want to play judge here; she just wanted to solve the problem quickly. It was obvious this old man was being bullied. What was there to argue?
“Alright, alright, if you want Light Honey…”
Liang Lai pulled out a Silver Coin and handed it to the old man, then, to his shocked eyes, she picked up the jar.
The two sacerdotes were stunned. One even reached out to take it.
Liang Lai raised an eyebrow and passed the jar to Dolosa behind her.
“What are you doing? I never said I was giving this to you.”
“…”
She might be kind, but she wasn’t a pushover.
“Now that I own this jar of Light Honey, do you want to snatch it from me, or do you want to buy it from me?”
Liang Lai pointed to the jar in Dolosa’s arms, her expression challengingly mischievous.
The Green Robed Sacerdotes: “…”
How could they dare offend a Saintess Lady?
“We wouldn’t dare to take your things… we were just being presumptuous.”
They bowed repeatedly but when they raised their heads, Liang Lai clearly saw the defiance flickering in their eyes.
Sure enough, once they turned and walked a bit away, the two started whispering.
“I don’t understand why the Saintess insists on helping those useless and powerless people.”
“Hey, haven’t you heard about the Third Saintess? It’s like she’s been possessed by Darkspawn… recently she keeps doing things that go against Church logic.”
“Hah—I actually didn’t know that.”
“Good you don’t. Showing kindness to useless people… I think she’s not far from becoming the Penitent Saintess.”
All these words were heard by Delucia.
Delucia tugged on Liang Lai’s sleeve, stood on tiptoe, and whispered the whole conversation that the two Green Robed Sacerdotes had just had.
Liang Lai’s expression remained calm as she gently ruffled the heads of the nearby children.
“Don’t you think there’s a flaw in what they said?”
The child blinked confusedly, looking at Liang Lai.
“If there were no Dustfolk, who would collect Light Honey in the first place?”
Liang Lai smiled. “Like me—I’m a Saintess. If everyone did my job, who would collect Light Honey, who would listen to the Saintly Prophecy, who would judge sinners? It’s the same… only some people’s talents only go so far.”
“Putting aside those lazy good-for-nothings…”
Liang Lai glanced at the old man holding the Silver Coin not far away, dazed.
“The rest are all working hard to survive… but because they do different work, they get labeled differently and assigned ranks…”
Her gaze swept over the hunched figures and rough hands in the marketplace, her voice dropping as if speaking to herself, “They always say Dustfolk are lowly, but who sticks the Golden Foil on the Church’s rooftops? Who grows the white bread on the Holy Communion Plate?”
She crouched down and looked the children in the eye.
“Just like the warp and weft of a loom—if one thread is missing, the whole cloth unravels.”
“Remember,” Liang Lai picked up a half-moldy piece of Black Bread from the ground, her fingertips smudged with dirt, “when someone tells you that certain people are born to be trampled underfoot…”
Suddenly, she broke the bread apart hard. The mold flakes scattered onto the silver-thread embroidery of her Saintess Robe.
“…it’s because they’re afraid of being seen standing on the backs of others.”
In the distance, a Green Robed Sacerdote’s sharp rebuke rang out.
A girl selling wooden carvings hurriedly put away her carving knife, and the crooked-winged Angel Statue rolled to Liang Lai’s feet.
She bent down to pick it up and gently brushed off the wood shavings.
The girl’s eyes landed on Liang Lai as well.