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Emiliana knew he wasn’t talking to her, but that sounded like a pretty good idea. The Library must’ve had tons of philosophy books, so maybe she could add some to her reading list.

Ibai opened his mouth again to say something, but a low rumble interrupted him.

Emiliana recognized that sound. She gave Ibai a look. “Have you been checking out too many books again?”

“No,” said the middle-aged Blackburn with all the composure of a child. “I’ve been good, I swear!”

“Hmm,” was all Emiliana said.

“He is telling the truth,” said Gohvis. “The Library simply doesn’t like him.”

Another low rumble arrived, as if in affirmation.

“Oh, no,” said Ibai, “is that really true?”

One more rumble.

Ibai just frowned.

Emiliana felt a bit bad for him. Ever since she had informed him about the death of Ismael Blackburn, his father, Emiliana had become even more uncertain about Ibai’s state of mind than before.

The aberration took the news... pretty well, Emiliana supposed, but he was rather quiet for a few days thereafter, and she had also been seeing him around less frequently.

His current demeanor didn’t seem all that different from normal, but that too was worrisome in its own way. Being an aberration, Emiliana had to wonder if the man knew how to grieve properly--or the more terrible question of if he even felt grief in the first place.

Perhaps that was why Chergoa was spending so much time with him, lately. Emiliana had asked her about him, but the reaper hadn’t told her anything that seemed out of the ordinary.

‘I wouldn’t worry too much about what a building thinks, if I were you,’ said Chergoa.

“But it’s not just any building,” said Ibai. “It’s my new best buddy! I can’t have my best buddy hating me! That’s not a best buddy at all, then!”