"Ah... no wonder you trust Gilbert so much." Nicholson chuckled.
If Gilbert were only too skilled with standard runes, with Ruth's usual personality, even if there was no issue with the Soul Mark, he would repeatedly verify... and constantly suspect Gilbert.
But the child clearly mastered something deeper, the original runes of their world!
After all, if Gilbert really were replaced by someone, it would only have happened in recent years... Especially having suddenly completed the hardest task with the lowest probability: repairing the Mental Sea.
Although Gilbert has always been reclusive and rarely interacts with outsiders, Ruth actually periodically has him, along with some people knowledgeable about spirit-related magic, check on Gilbert.
They didn't really help with nothing; otherwise Gilbert wouldn't have advanced to the 5th ring... But that method of treating wherever it hurts with pain relief became increasingly useless over time.
