Lionel took the bread and started chewing on it, trying to work out just how hidebound and stupid a simple town could be.  "Was it the rumors that people healed by magic were sprouting mutations?"  The knight asked, starting to find the dying town painful to be in.  "I'll just be happy when we're out of this place.  The people here just want to be left alone.  It's no place for adventurers."  He said, deciding to give the halfling at least a single chance to right his wrongs.  "I don't like letting the wicked go unpunished; even small acts of villainy will lead to larger spiritual flaws, if left unchecked.  It's a thousand small cruelties that are killing this world, not a horde of demons."  Lionel whispered, expressing his sense of cosmic helplessness.