A coffee in hand, Vanitas flipped through the pages of the research document he was studying.
"Bitter," he muttered. "Got anything better?"
"This is a clinic, not a coffee shop," Yves replied while operating one of the machines nearby. "And because of you, coffee beans are expensive now. Hell, everything's running short these days."
Since people in the countryside were refusing to move goods into the capital, transportation of supplies had nearly frozen altogether. Coffee beans, wheat, medicine, livestock, and countless other necessities were now difficult to acquire.
The roads had become dangerous.
After all, merchants were afraid of rebel ambushes, while rebels themselves feared retaliation from the loyalists. Even ordinary civilians had begun hoarding supplies out of paranoia, driving prices higher with every passing week.
The Empire was slowly strangling itself.
"And whose fault is that?" Yves added with a glance.
