Rin didn't sleep.
He remained beside the dying fire until the first light of morning reached the mountains.
Sol had eventually fallen asleep. Rin hadn't told him what he had discovered.
He couldn't. The bell was still inside his mind.
Quiet. Waiting.
He had finally understood what it meant. Someone could lie without meaning to hurt him.
Someone could repeat something they genuinely believed to be true. And yet the bell could still sound.
That meant the ability wasn't simply detecting someone's intentions. It was detecting truth itself.
Rin looked toward Sol. His brother was still sleeping. Rin remembered the conversation from the previous night.
If you remember your full name, the System won't be able to protect you anymore.
Ding.
A lie. But Sol hadn't deliberately lied.
Someone had given him false information. Or perhaps... someone had altered something he remembered.
