Xio solemnly described what she had encountered on the way. By the time she arrived, an angry crowd had already broken down the bakery's door, and many people had gone inside to grab bread.
Xio asked a passerby what had happened and learned that bread prices had risen again. Many people were furiously denouncing the bakery owner.
The bakery owner's words had been equally nasty. He told them that if they had no money, they could just wait to starve to death.
The argument grew increasingly heated and soon turned physical. The bakery owner was knocked unconscious, and all the bread baked that day was looted. Xio told Fors and Raphael, "Normally, I would have tried to stop them from looting.
"But today, I suddenly hesitated. Stealing is wrong, but if they don't steal, some people might really starve to death."
Fors said, "The war has only been going on for two months, and bread prices have already risen twice.
"The last increase would, at worst, have left people going hungry. But this one is different."
Some families really would be unable to afford bread.
Looking at their worried faces, Raphael spread his hands and said, "Ladies, this is war."
He paused, then continued, "Did you think you were living in a wonderful era full of hope, social harmony, and honest, decent people?
"This is an industrial age that devours people!"
Xio looked at Raphael and suddenly asked, "Do you have any way to help those people?"
Raphael smiled. "I don't have that ability, so I simply don't trouble myself over it."
As far as Raphael was concerned, he had barely felt any changes brought about by the war. On the contrary, after becoming an Oracle of the Aurora Order, his life had become even better than before.
That was