Trench Coat and Bread

After getting somewhat familiar with her work, Vanessa left the hospital before darkness fell.

The streets of New Scandinavia were always shrouded in mist. Even at noon, the sun was barely visible. The night watchmen had yet to light the gas lamps along the streets, and Vanessa walked into the thin fog.

Her outer garment had already been thrown away. If she did not buy a coat while the day was still relatively warm, she would freeze to death at night.

"Good thing they didn't throw away my shoes." They were thick-soled cowhide boots, sturdy and durable, and had cost her a full fifteen Leo. Without them, her feet would probably have rotted long ago while she was living on the streets.

The Leo was an attempt by the royal family to standardize denominations. The empire had long had a complicated exchange system: one gold pound equaled twenty Thaler, one Thaler equaled twelve Borne, and one Borne equaled four Fas. Four currencies in all.

This system tormented every class of imperial society without discrimination. Eventually, even the royal family could no longer stand it. They abolished every currency except the gold pound and issued the Leo, with one gold pound equaling one hundred Leo.

The idea was good, but the empire's units had already become a mountain of shit. How could changing them be that easy?

The old nobility's mints, the new nobility's parliament-the interests of the various factions had long since become thoroughly entangled. His Majesty's decree passed unimpeded throughout the empire, but the moment people actually took out coins to trade, everything ground to a halt.

And so, unsurprisingly, the royal family's reform ultimately added another fresh turd to that mountain of shit: the empire now had five currencies.

Among the lower classes, however, the Leo was still more popular. At least it did not require such complicated conversions.

The twenty Leo she now held amounted to roughly half a week's wages. Her weekly pay was theoretically thirty-five Leo, but most of it would have to go toward her debt—Doctor Norman had charged her over three thousand Leo for saving her life.

Vanessa was not worried about the bill in the slightest, though. She even wished it were bigger. Surely they would not fire her while she still owed them money?

Humming a tuneless little song, Vanessa wrapped herself in the sack she had borrowed to keep out the cold, skirted a corpse on the ground, and skipped on her way.

She still liked this city very much.

"I need to buy clothes first... Hmm, I should be able to find a coat at a secondhand shop." She changed direction and headed toward King's Road.

King's Road was in the dock district, considered a slum in New Scandinavia and the only district without a poor relief committee.

It could not be called lawless, because it was still part of New Scandinavia. Nor could it be called safe, because New Scandinavia had never acknowledged it.

For most people at the bottom of society, it was not so dangerous as long as they took care to avoid certain areas and people. Vanessa often came here to hunt for things.

She pulled the sack tighter around herself and walked along the edge of the street with her head down, turning into a filthy little shop with practiced ease.

The shop had no name, only a wooden board by the entrance bearing a simple drawing of clothes.

"Mr. Aldrich, I'm here to pick out some clothes."

"Take whatever catches your eye." The man in the reclining chair waved a hand without even looking up.

It was a ready-made clothing shop, but unlike other shops, it had neither enthusiastic sales assistants nor rows of clothing racks. Most of the clothes lay in haphazard heaps on the floor.

Many garments bore stains, even dark bloodstains, and were little better than the sack Vanessa wore. But no one cared.

Aldrich had no intention of washing them, either. Once a garment sold, it might return within a few days, and it would end up covered in mud and grime again anyway.

In a sense, these clothes really served much the same purpose as the sack around Vanessa.

Vanessa crouched down and began sorting through them with a frown.

After rummaging for a while, she took a fancy to a thick coat. Its edges were badly worn, but its thickness made up for that.

Her fingers found several bloodstained holes in the fabric, along with a bent medal.

"What's this?"

Aldrich glanced over, then turned away again. "An old soldier left it. Supposedly he took it on the battlefield at the front, but some say he was a deserter. Who knows?"

Only then did Vanessa notice that it was actually a Trench Coat.

"What happened afterward?"

"Afterward? What afterward? Supposedly he rounded up some comrades to demand their compensation, but they never even got through parliament's doors. He took a bullet, and he got off easiest. Plenty of them were crushed to pulp. Couldn't even pick them out of the tracks."

Vanessa looked at the medal. There was no telling whose blood stained it. Perhaps it had once been a symbol of glory. Now it was being sold at a discount.

"How much for this coat?"

Aldrich's gaze settled on the sack wrapped around her, and he paused. "Seven Leo, and it's yours."

Delight immediately welled up in Vanessa. That was even cheaper than she had expected.

A thick coat like this would generally cost at least thirty or forty Leo from a ready-made clothing shop. Secondhand shops usually charged half as much. This one was in worse condition, and Vanessa had been prepared to pay thirteen Leo. She had never expected to save half of that.

A smile immediately bloomed across her face. As though afraid the owner would change his mind, she pulled the coins from her pocket and handed them over.

"Treat it well. It'll probably be back here for sale in a few days," Aldrich muttered, putting the money away.

"No chance. I'm going to stay alive!"

With her coat bought, Vanessa made a trip to the market. When she emerged, she had three pounds of the cheapest black bread and a small sack of potatoes.

Clutching her meager haul in both arms, she set off home in complete contentment. She still had a full ten Leo in her pocket. With careful budgeting, that would last her ten days or so.

The things in her arms were rather heavy, but the girl's steps were surprisingly light.

Having lost her life and regained it made her cherish everything she now had all the more. She was easily satisfied.

Suddenly, she stopped, her nostrils twitching involuntarily.

The aroma of fat mingled with wheat, sweet and warm, instantly flooded her nose and pushed the cold winter wind aside.

She turned toward the scent. It was a bakery, with a clear glass display window, an elegant wooden sign, and the smell of baking bread that made it impossible for her to move her feet.

Vanessa blinked in realization. Without noticing, she had reached the riverside district. The shops here were already beyond what she could afford.

She swallowed hard and took a deep, rather greedy breath. Unable to help herself, she approached the display window and peered through the cold glass.

Golden, fluffy loaves sprinkled with enticing bits of ham and soaked in savory butter. Glossy hot dogs, plump sausages nestled in bread fried golden and rich with oil, drenched in thick sauce...

The girl's eyes went round.

Suddenly, the lovely bread disappeared. A figure in an apron blocked the view behind the glass, leaving Vanessa with only her own clear reflection: a thin girl in ragged clothes, clutching two bulging bags in her arms, with chunks of black bread sticking out, as coarse as stones abandoned by the roadside.

Her cheeks instantly burned. She hastily lowered her head and turned to leave with her bags, but after only a few steps, the bakery door creaked open behind her.

"Vanessa!"

The girl froze. Looking back, she saw the apron-clad figure pushing open the door and waving vigorously at her.

She hesitated for a moment, then dragged her feet over.

"Heavens, how did you end up like this?"

"So... you lost your job, nearly froze to death, and in the end, the hospital only gave you this job so you could repay your debt?"

"Yes." Vanessa kept her head lowered, scarcely daring to look at her.

The girl across from her was called Winnie, a companion from her days at the orphanage. They had once been very close friends.

Winnie had left the orphanage before her, dropping out of school early to make a living in society. Vanessa, however, had gritted her teeth, taken on a hefty student loan, and entered Miskatonic University.

Back then, they had both had bright futures. They had even promised to meet again someday.

"Sasa... oh!" Winnie reached out and tenderly brushed aside Vanessa's tangled hair, her fingertips lightly grazing the unhealed chilblains on her cheek. "Why didn't you come to me?"

"I didn't expect it either... Everything happened so suddenly..." Vanessa's voice was as faint as a mosquito's whine.

Winnie wore a clean, tidy pale-blue dress with a cream-yellow apron over it. Her hair was arranged in an elegant bun and tucked neatly into a small hat.

The little black, thick-soled leather shoes on her feet were polished to a spotless shine. Vanessa instinctively drew her own mud-caked old boots, their original color long since indistinguishable, farther beneath her skirt-these were already the most presentable things she owned.

"I have food now, and work, and I can buy a few things. If I just hang on, things will get better..." she explained incoherently, trying to dispel her embarrassment.

"Oh... right, Sasa, would you like some bread?"

"B-bread?"

Vanessa's throat bobbed. She was already holding four heavy pounds of black bread, enough to keep her going for several days. Someone like her, who could not even afford meals, ought not to hope for more. Yet when the word "bread" reached her ears, what rose in her mind was that warm, clean display window and its sweet aroma.

"Mr. Lachi, open the door for me!"

Holding her bags, Vanessa shouted while driving away the stray dogs approaching her in the yard. Lachi's deeply wrinkled face emerged through the doorway. His cloudy eyes swept over her before he slowly pulled the door open a crack.

The girl slipped inside and hurried through the chilly entrance hall toward the inner room. Her nose was red from the cold, but nothing could hide the smile on her face.

She had bought a coat to keep out the cold, enough dry food for several days, and... a bag of bread!

Not black bread, but sweet, soft bread made with honey!

Winnie had said it was the most expensive kind in the shop. Vanessa had nervously asked the price, but Winnie had simply stuffed the paper bag into her arms without allowing any argument.

"It really is terribly expensive." Winnie winked. "But these are trimmings and crusts. Respectable people won't touch them. You don't mind, do you?"

Vanessa looked at the bag in her arms, then at Winnie. Her nose suddenly stung, and all she could do was shake her head desperately.

She set everything else aside. There was no table in the room, only a shabby low stool, but that did not stop her. She found a reasonably clean empty drawer and pulled it out to serve as a temporary tabletop.

Then she excitedly rubbed her icy hands together before carefully opening that precious paper bag.

Just as Winnie had said, it contained nothing but ends and scraps, pieces of bread of uneven sizes. They did not look very presentable, but they were all the same once they were in her stomach.

Vanessa carefully squeezed a piece between her fingers. Even the crust was soft, carrying the fresh fragrance of baking mingled with the sweetness of honey. Before she had even put it in her mouth, she felt as though she could already taste that melting warmth.

Did something this wonderful... really belong to her now?

With utmost reverence, Vanessa picked up a small piece and gently placed it in her mouth as though performing some sacred ritual, reluctant even to bite down immediately.

Sweet honey and tender, crumbly bread melted softly in her mouth, gently enveloping her taste buds. A light bite brought the unexpected delight of crunchy nut pieces hidden inside. Vanessa felt as though she were soaking in hot water, steam rising around her, with no cold left at all.

When she had still been a teaching assistant, she had once splurged on a soak at a public bathhouse. It had been her happiest moment. Ever since, every lovely experience reminded her of that steam-filled bath.

"When I have money," she dreamed aloud indistinctly between small bites, "I'll eat bread like this every day. Maybe I should have red wine with it? Yes, that noble red wine from the books." She imagined herself becoming a noble, her dining table piled with sweet, fragrant bread.

Unfortunately, she had no way to imagine the taste of red wine. She had never tasted such a luxury and knew only from books that it was an "elegant" pairing. Presumably... it was sweet too?

She felt a little sorry for this bag of bread. Eating it just like this really was something of a waste. It ought to have rested on magnificent silver plates, not in a drawer that had just held a corpse.

Better save some to eat later.

Thinking this, Vanessa could not help pulling out another piece.