What really trips Gabe up is Trademaster and the fantastical elements of the story. Indeed, it confirms Gabe’s deepest desires to hear that he did indeed have a mother who loved him and has been looking for him—this is what he's wanted all along. But when it comes to the threat Trademaster poses, Gabe remains insistent that such a thing isn’t possible, which again reflects his youth and inexperience (he wasn’t old enough to see for himself what happened last time Trademaster was in the village, as detailed in
Messenger).