Andre slowly took a drink.
---
"You know what?"
---
Kai looked at him.
---
"What?"
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"If I was a citizen..."
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Andre pointed toward the departing soldiers.
---
"I'd trust him too."
---
Kai couldn't disagree.
---
That was the problem.
---
Later that evening, the attack was stopped.
---
The culprits escaped.
---
Again.
---
But the city only talked about one thing.
---
Commander Jack.
---
How quickly he responded.
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How many civilians he saved.
---
How many soldiers followed him without hesitation.
---
Each story made him seem larger than life.
---
Meanwhile Akshay remained trapped inside meetings.
Reports.
Investigations.
Politics.
---
One man was becoming the face of action.
---
The other was becoming the face of failure.
---
Neither realized it yet.
---
But the balance inside Yggdrasil was beginning to shift.
---
And somewhere in the city—
Someone was making sure it continued to shift in exactly that direction.