"You know what you have to do. But beware—Sin of Sincerity includes most of the Attainers. Be careful… and I mean be careful," Mr. Shepard warned Ibaan and Selpe.
Be careful!
Yes, Ibaan knew he had to be cautious of the Attainers. He remembered every warning Mr. Shepard had given him.
Even with that fear in his heart, a smirk appeared on his face. He finally understood why Mr. Shepard had sent him on those missions to wipe out the gangs connected to the Attainers.
It wasn't really about destroying the gangs.
It was about gathering information—information about the Attainers.
He did have some information about them, but it wasn't much, and not the kind worth mentioning yet. Still, he had forgotten the details… maybe he had saved them in the Bookmarks. He'd need to check.
***
After finishing their talk with Mr. Shepard, Ibaan and Selpe left his apartment and headed back to their house on Singing Street.
While walking, they noticed the higher-ranked Arbiters from the academy—stronger than Sentinels, with more authority and freedom—and several High Custodians from the Kingdom. They had all gathered on Singing Street, though no one seemed to know why. Ibaan and Selpe tried to figure it out but couldn't.
No one in the State of Heaven, or the world itself, knew what had caused the defense to act this way—except those protected by "Saint Sanity," whoever or whatever that was. Ibaan had no idea.
When they reached home, both entered their two-story house.
"I'll take a nap. Wake me up after an hour," Selpe said tiredly, walking to the bedroom. There were faint tears in her eyes.
Something was clearly bothering her—just like that time when she cried in the kitchen.
Ibaan couldn't understand what it was or why she wouldn't share it with him. Wasn't he her husband?
Sure, their relationship wasn't great—it only looked fine on the surface, it was like not balanced—but still, didn't they have to live together till death? None of it made sense, and that made him feel sad. Why was she hiding it from him?
He stood still on the balcony, thinking for a moment, then let out a soft chuckle.
'Huh? Why do I even care? Who is she anyway? Why should it matter if she hides things from me? I came here because there was no choice. My only goal is to find a way out of this book's world and wait for it to end. She isn't even real—so why should I care?'
Yes, he hadn't come into this book to build relationships with its people. Adapting to them was one thing, but getting emotionally involved was another.
Were the people in this world real or not? There was no clear answer. No one could say for sure. The chances were fifty-fifty—it could go either way.
And the way to go back to his world there were two possible ways:
One was through the Astral world, which could be risky as there are really corrupted and mystical beings wandering in it, he could get lost.
Another way was simple and safer, waiting for the world's end which would be dangerous as well as promising but would take much time.
But he really didn't prefer to choose any of either of options yet, he first needed to first unlock the way to enter the Astral World
After a sigh, he pushed those thoughts aside and looked toward the guest room.
They didn't really need that room—just the bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom. The others were rarely used.
He entered it. The fresh scent of the materials hit his nose.
The room was a bit large, with sofas lined neatly and a glass table at the center.
He sat down, needing a quiet place to think about his next move.
He pulled out his communicator and opened it.
A flood of notifications popped up. He clicked on the school's announcement first.
[School of Thoughts and Perseverance]
Dear lovely students,
Pardon us for the late notice. The school will be closed today due to a strange and unexpected incident involving the security defense.
As for the vacations—which were supposed to start in a few days—they will continue until the Annual Tournament on January 1st, 1912.
Take care of yourselves and stay home for the next few days. Avoid going out unnecessarily.
Thank you.
—Security Defense
Ibaan stared at the message silently.
And then he instantly opened the browser and typed: "Private Detective: Clami Almond."
The browser responded with the expected result:
[No results matched with "Private Detective: Clami Almond"]
Just a few days ago, the browser had been full of information about that detective.
Now, it was all gone—like Clami Almond had never existed.
Ibaan closed the communicator and put his hands together, elbows resting on the table.
He shut his eyes, thinking hard about what conclusions to draw and what step to take next.
'What if I take Clami Almond's identity and search for clues about the bloodlust? But first, I'll use Sixth Sense to check if it's safe or not to take his identity.'
A private detective—someone who gathers information, solves cases, and uncovers facts—usually outside the police or government.
They work alone, independent of authority.
Honestly speaking, it was a smart idea.
Even if safety was uncertain, becoming Clami Almond would help him do what he couldn't as Ibaan.
He could reach places, talk to people, and dig into the secrets the world kept hidden.
And speaking of secrets… the curse.
Why wasn't Selpe dead yet? He needed to look into that too.
And more importantly—why wasn't she even suspicious? Why didn't she notice that Ibaan wasn't really Ibaan anymore?
It didn't make sense.
Shon Eril wasn't perfect at acting like Ibaan. His tone, his behavior, even the way he spoke—some of it had to be off.
Naturally, anyone close enough would sense the difference.
So why didn't she?
Was she pretending not to notice?
Or… was there something else behind her silence?
But for that, he'd need a better disguise.
He couldn't let Selpe know about any of this.
Besides, Selpe wouldn't leave him anyway; she still believed Ibaan might die because of the clan's curse.
'That's right.'
He finally opened the relic and activated his Sixth Sense—the Inevitable Sense—to see if it was truly safe… to become Clami Almond.