The registry road filled before Hajin finished recording Ash's bearing, yet the crowd left a painted lane open from the gate to the clinic.
That lane carried the shape of the wartime discipline the Sixth had kept during his absence, with workers holding ropes while children watched from behind the markers.
A timber platform waited beside the well, its fresh boards still dark with sap and its steps pointed toward the road.
Hajin counted the open lane, the platform, and Loccy's arms held inside Vella's supports.
'They built a stage while she still needs both arms braced, so someone decided cheering comes before treatment,' he thought, stepping down from the wagon.
Loccy walked under her own strength with both arms fixed across her chest, and the child kept one hand on the back of her coat.
The child refused every offered palm from the watching workers, while Rumi checked the left alley and Nari closed the right exit.
