We're rich!

"The Empire proclaimed itself Kasmog's legitimate successor, so it also recognized our society's charter."

"So... your society has been around for a full two hundred years?!"

Vanessa was utterly stunned.

"More precisely, over two hundred and fifty years." The man looked at Vanessa with some surprise. "You know your history."

"I have bachelor's degrees in both history and archaeology!" Vanessa instinctively straightened her back with a hint of pride.

"Don't tell me you graduated from Miskatonic University?"

"Yes. I took on a huge student loan just to get in, and I still haven't paid it off."

The corner of the man's mouth twitched slightly. "I'm impressed."

"But if your society has over two hundred years of history, why are there so few of you left? Oh, I get it. This is just one of your branches, right?"

Everyone in the room turned to look at her at once. Even the air seemed to still, and Vanessa vaguely sensed something was wrong with the atmosphere.

She shrank back a little and asked quietly, "D-did I say something wrong?"

The man before her sighed softly. "Miss Vanessa, the Mourning Poetry Society has always been small for... certain reasons. The economy hasn't been doing well lately, either, so we don't have much to spare."

As he spoke, he cast a casual glance at Vanessa.

She was unconsciously stuffing food into her mouth. At his glance, she froze, awkwardly wanting to stop.

But... she couldn't.

She couldn't. She really couldn't. The food here was just too good!

The girl felt she had never eaten anything so delicious in her life. Reason reminded her to eat with more restraint, but her hands and mouth refused to listen to her brain.

To be honest, Vanessa had a fairly good impression of this Mourning Poetry Society.

They clearly weren't particularly well-off themselves, yet they still hadn't driven away the orphans who came to freeload. Even after catching her red-handed, they hadn't given her a hard time.

And the communion food was incredibly delicious!

She really was starting to want to join this poetry society.

"My name is Vanessa. Can I come here again?"

"Aren't you with the Circle of Vitas... never mind. Come whenever you like. I'm Damian, Damian Graves. You can call me the Eternal Sleep Priest. If you want to come next time, bring your own food, and..."

His gaze swept over the girl's bandaged left hand-there was a finger missing.

"Don't bring trouble here."

"I didn't expect these secret societies to be so easy to get along with," Vanessa remarked as she walked down the street, holding Alice's hand.

After eating her fill at the Mourning Poetry Society, she immediately decided to pick out a present for Winnie, so she could go see her tonight or tomorrow.

She needed to give Winnie a proper apology, and Allen too. Then, then...

Vanessa touched the money pouch at her waist, and a trace of reluctance crossed her heart.

She had been so happy to accept help, yet now that it was her turn to help someone else, she was feeling the pinch.

I'm really selfish, she thought.

"What sort of present do you think Winnie would like?"

She gently swung Alice's little hand.

This child was always especially thoughtful. Vanessa even suspected she might say something like, "She'll be happy just to see you."

"Flowers!"

Alice answered without hesitation.

Realization dawned on Vanessa, and she nodded.

Winnie did love flowers.

She had been that way ever since the orphanage. No matter how hard life got, she never forgot to water the little flowers by the window.

She had even given Vanessa a pot of bellflowers... though who knew whether they were still alive. The girl was always forgetting to care for them.

Should I buy a potted flower?

Vanessa hesitated, then changed direction and headed toward the Riverside District with Alice.

The Riverside District and the Harbor District faced each other across the Miskatonic River, yet they were two completely different worlds.

The Harbor District was this city's unhealing wound, a deliberately forgotten place where even the Poor Relief Committee had never established a presence.

The Riverside District, meanwhile, bordered the Central District and was the most prosperous part of the entire city. The high-rises along the river blazed with lights, like a city that never slept.

The residents on either side occasionally looked across the river. They lived in the same city, yet in different worlds.

The people on either side would most likely never meet in their entire lives.

Vanessa rarely came here, not because she didn't want to, but because she simply couldn't-the moment a patrol officer saw her less-than-respectable clothes, she would be driven away.

If she refused to leave, she would be arrested on the spot.

The Empire's Poor Law imposed harsh restrictions on the poor. "Wandering at will" was an official criminal charge.

If she set foot here, she would be committing the crime of vagrancy.

But there were always people who couldn't enter the Riverside District yet needed to shop in the commercial streets, so several streets selling all sorts of goods had sprung up not far from the district.

Though the roads here didn't connect directly to the Riverside District, they ran right alongside it, as though they, too, could catch a little of its prosperity.

This was Vanessa's destination.

She wandered the streets with Alice for a while, then entered an accessories shop.

The two spent a long time choosing before finally settling on a brooch-the Enamel-Inlaid White Lily.

In the language of flowers, lilies meant "a happy family" and "great love." Vanessa felt it was just right for Winnie.

She'll like it... she'd better like it! This brooch had cost her a whole five leo. Five!

Her Trench Coat had only cost seven leo!

"Let's head back. If I'm not busy tonight, I'll drop this off for Winnie on the way." Vanessa happily patted Alice's little head.

"Mm..." Alice was eating the snacks Vanessa had bought her. She nodded vaguely and gave an ugly smile.

As it turned out, "not busy" wasn't something to say lightly, especially when you were about to work a night shift.

Vanessa worked the entire night without stopping for a moment.

She made several deliveries in a row and only returned to the hospital when the sky was already growing light.

She had even imagined she might sound out the subject of the Circle of Vitas, but instead she spent the whole night walking all over the city.

Strangely enough, New Scandinavia was particularly restless that night. The late-night hours, usually silent, were now filled with figures hurrying to and fro.

Their expressions held some wariness as they looked at Vanessa.

When Vanessa dragged her exhausted body back to the hospital, Old Razi actually came out to greet her for once.

He wore a heavy coat, and his wrinkled face was wreathed in smiles. The moment he saw Vanessa, his eyes lit up, and he strode forward and grabbed her sleeve.

"Come on, we're going to the East District!"

"Huh?" Vanessa froze. "My shift's supposed to be over. It's already light out..."

"Forget your shift being over. We're rich! We're going to be filthy rich!" Old Razi grabbed her Flatbed Cart. "You won't come across an opportunity like this in your entire life. Work one extra day today, and you'll be able to pay off your debts and still have a huge sum left over! More money than you could even dream of!"

Vanessa's eyes instantly widened. The exhaustion of working all night had left her somewhat dazed. She looked toward the warehouse yard and suddenly froze.

It was packed with sacks, the corpses piled into mountains.

Under Spirit Vision, every corpse shone with white light.