The silence inside the plaza did not feel natural.
It felt forced.
Heavy.
Like the entire settlement was holding its breath at once.
Shuan stood in the center of the frozen platform, trembling uncontrollably while the chain around his neck hung tightly from the soldier’s hand beside him.
His knees still ached from the fall.
The cold beneath his boots climbed slowly through his body, but compared to the fear inside him, it barely mattered anymore.
He looked around again.
Faces everywhere.
Rows upon rows of silent people surrounding the plaza.
Some stared openly.
Others avoided his eyes entirely.
A few whispered quietly to one another before falling silent again the moment soldiers glanced in their direction.
Shuan’s chest tightened harder.
He did not belong here.
A few hours ago he had been dying alone in the snow.
Now hundreds of strangers looked at him as though he were something dangerous.
Or cursed.
Or already condemned.
Suddenly— A loud crack of static burst through the air.
Shuan flinched violently.
Then a voice echoed from the old speakers mounted above the plaza.
“All residents… report to the plaza immediately.” The mechanical sound distorted slightly through the frozen speakers.
The announcement repeated again.
Stronger this time.
Sharper.
“This is an emergency security declaration.” The words spread across the settlement like cold wind.
More movement began appearing around the edges of the plaza.
Tent flaps opened one after another.
People emerged slowly from every direction, boots crunching across the snow as they joined the growing crowd.
Shuan remained standing in the center.
Like the reason for all of it.
His breathing became unstable again.
The pressure of so many eyes crushed against him from every side.
Then the tears came back.
This time he did not even try to stop them.
Warm drops slid down his freezing face while he struggled to breathe evenly.
“I didn’t do anything…” he whispered weakly.
His broken voice disappeared beneath the wind before anyone nearby could hear it clearly.
He looked around desperately.
At the soldiers.
At the crowd.
At the silent faces watching him.
Nobody answered.
Nobody explained anything.
Only eyes.
Fear inside some of them.
Suspicion inside others.
And silence inside all of them.
Shuan’s throat tightened painfully.
He wanted someone—anyone—to explain what was happening.
To tell him this was some mistake.
But every passing second made it clearer that no explanation was coming.
Then he saw Hol.
Standing near the edge of the plaza beside Lemar and several armed soldiers.
The old man watched him with the same calm expression as before.
But now… there was no warmth left inside that calmness.
No kindness.
No comfort.
Only observation.
As though Shuan were no longer a person in his eyes.
Only a result waiting to be confirmed.
Shuan’s chest trembled harder.
Something inside him cracked quietly at that realization.
He tried to step backward instinctively.
The metal restraint around his neck suddenly tightened.
Pain shot through him.
He lost balance immediately and collapsed onto his knees once again.
The crowd shifted slightly at the sound of the chains scraping against the ice.
Shuan lowered his head.
And cried harder.
Not loudly.
Not dramatically.
Just quietly.
Hopelessly.
Because at last— he understood one thing.
No one here intended to explain anything to him.
And if there truly was a reason behind all of this… then that reason no longer mattered to them at all.