"Why did you do that?" Aria asked after the two of them arrived back in his office.
"Do what?" Nick asked.
"Antagonize Kugelblitz," she said with annoyance. "They already got the message. You didn't need to humiliate them any further by forcing them to stay there."
"I already told you," Nick said. "I have no way back. Even if you didn't support me, I would have acted the same way."
"Why?" Aria asked with furrowed brows. "You're killing yourself!"
"I have to," Nick answered with annoyance. "Aegis is the only thing protecting me and the only reason why I have any authority to begin with. If I take a step back, it would be equivalent to Aegis taking a step back."
"Kugelblitz is not the ruler of the city. Aegis is."
"If I step back in such a situation, I wouldn't be any different from that coward Markus," Nick said with disgust.
Aria was a bit surprised to see Nick genuinely annoyed.
She rarely saw him annoyed.
Then, she realized why Nick was annoyed.
While Nick had defended his conduct, Jornis' comment still hit Nick.
It didn't matter that what Nick had said was true.
Just based on instinct and evolution, almost every man had some inherent pride, and hiding behind a woman was always humiliating.
This didn't have anything to do with logic.
This was a purely emotional issue.
Even though it made logical sense, one's emotions would still act up.
"I would have done the same thing without your support," Nick said.
"Then, you would have died," Aria said.
"And if that had happened, they would die to Aegis. In the end, you would be the only hero left in Crimson City, and you would have full control," Nick said.
"Is this really so important to you?" Aria asked. "Are you willing to sacrifice yourself for the city?"
"I have to," Nick said. "I have to put my life on the line. I have done terrible things in the past, and my only goal in life is to redeem myself."
"I can't bring back the people I have killed. The only thing I can do is improve the lives of as many people as possible."
"And if I die trying, at least I can be happy with myself."
"Also," Nick said, his voice much more casual, "it wasn't certain that they would have killed me. The fact that they released their Zephyx and threatened me is a good indication."
"It's possible that they would have killed me, but you never know how humans will react when a life-changing decision is actually in front of them."
"Was their anger so great that they would kill themselves to kill me?"
"It's possible, but I don't think so," Nick said.
Aria took a deep breath.
Naturally, what Nick did was still extremely risky.
Aria had worked with Nick for 18 months, and even though Nick had said something like this many times, Aria only understood what all of this meant at that moment.
'Many people hate Nick, but in this world, there is nobody that hates him more than himself,' Aria thought.
Of course, Aria still despised the things Nick had done in the past.
And yet, she also felt pity for him.
Was there really a reason for him to hate himself that much?
"I will support you," Aria said.
Nick looked at Aria.
"I'm willing to also bet my life," she said. "I have seen what you have done for the city, and the meeting today was the most dangerous and important part of all of the planned policies."
"And you still went through with it."
"You said you would bet with your life, and you did just that."
"I can admire that."
"I watched from the sidelines for long enough."
"It's time for me to do my job and make this city a better place for everyone," Aria said with conviction.
Nick didn't feel any falsehood from Aria.
Yet, it was still very difficult for him to believe.
While Nick had seen people in Aegis who shared part of his ideology, he didn't remember seeing anyone who was willing to risk their life for their belief.
This was the first time Nick saw this in somebody else.
'While she has probably done many despicable things as Kugelblitz's Chief Zephyx Extractor, I doubt it can compare to the things I have done,' Nick thought.
"Thank you," Nick said with a sigh, "but there's no need. I appreciate your support, but you don't need to jump into the fire with me."
"Why not?" Aria asked. "I'm powerful, am I not? Is it not my duty to risk my life for the weak people? Why do you need to risk your life while I can't?"
Nick didn't like what he was hearing, but he didn't find a logical argument to counter her words.
'Why do I not want that?' Nick thought. 'This is what I always wanted from the powerful.'
'But as soon as she said that, I don't want her to do it.'
After a couple of seconds of thinking, Nick could only come up with one answer.
'Is it because I don't want to see her die?'
Nick looked at Aria, who was still waiting for an answer.
Nick thought about Aria risking her life in a fight against Kugelblitz.
'I don't want that to happen.'
'But that is a possible risk if I want this city to become a better place.'
'The Governor is supposed to keep the city in check, and Aria is Crimson City's Governor.'
'She accepted the job, and she has to do it.'
Nick gritted his teeth.
"Fine," he said in a tone that showed that he wasn't happy. "We are in this together. If you are willing, we will share a life until death!"
Aria was taken aback and looked at Nick in surprise.
Then, Nick realized what he had just said. "Oh, sorry, this came out the wrong way. You know what I mean, right?"
For the first time in over a decade, Aria saw Nick's flustered side again.
Aria couldn't help but laugh a little. "I understand," she answered.
Nick sighed and moved the collar of his uniform a bit like he had been sweating.
Saying that sentence had destabilized his demeanor more than enforcing his authority on two Heroes.
"Anyway," Nick said after a couple of seconds, "we should get back to work."
Aria nodded.
One month later, the new blood donation system was put into effect.
When the citizens heard about the change, they became infuriated.
They had to pay with their blood now?!
Most of the businesses of the middle layer, lower layer, and the Outer City banded together to plan a protest.
However, that protest never took form.
The reason was that every single member of the upper layer had declined to take part in it.
As soon as any of them had heard of the protest, they had metaphorically run away with their tail between their legs.
Not many people from the other layers had heard of what had happened in the upper layer over the last year.
When not even a single person of the upper layer dared to utter their support, the entire protest broke down.
The upper layer owned over 90% of the economy, excluding Manufacturers.
Even if every single member of the other layers and the Outer City protested, it would only have a minor effect on the economy.
Additionally, some people who tried to protest on their own were very quickly arrested by the guards.
Some of them returned several days later and gave up all resistance.
Some of them never returned at all.
While the people with disposable income complained, the people of the Dregs felt like they had entered a dream.
40 credits?
Only 40 credits?
That was still a big sum, but it was possible to get that amount.
Especially with the falling prices of food and clean water.
For some reason, there was just much more food being produced, which reduced the price a lot.
With the addition of the new blood donation system, the guard presence in the Outer City and the Dregs was increased severalfold!
Usually, the collective Dregs saw only one guard per day.
Now, every member of the Dregs saw at least five guards per day.
With the increased guard presence, the gangs began to have huge issues.
Especially since the guards were all Extractors with supernatural senses.
Many people were arrested during the first couple of days.
And then…
Nothing.
People realized that committing crimes was no longer easy.
Even more, the necessity of committing crimes was no longer overpowering.
Sure, some people who completely relied on crimes had it worse now, but the lives of the majority of people had become better.
While all of this was going on, Mr. Zero became very active in the upper layer.
Mr. Zero had kept himself back since Kugelblitz didn't have an issue with the government up to this point.
But now, Kugelblitz was very unhappy, and it wanted to use the upper layer to put pressure on the government.
Yet, Kugelblitz had a rude awakening.
Everyone who had belonged to their shady groups had either been executed or didn't dare to talk to them.
After an entire month of trying to gain allies, Kugelblitz had only gained a single pensive ally, who was ready to jump ship as soon as anything risky happened.
There was no one who would help Mr. Zero.
Kugelblitz had not stood up for the upper layer when the government was coming for them.
And when the government was coming for Kugelblitz, no one was left to stand up for them.
The other Manufacturers were too scared by both sides to get involved.
Kugelblitz was alone.
Completely alone.
Against Crimson City.
Against the government.
Against Aegis.
Against Aria.
Against Nick.