Bran Hambric Chapter 3: The Creature and His Master or GNOMES!

I don't understand just yet why no Gnomes are allowed in Dunce. I mean, I can see why mages and things wouldn't be, as some people see magic as evil. But Gnomes don't use magic, do they?
Oh, about the Gnomes. Well, Sewey gets caught be Officer McMason and tries to tell him about the burglar, but McMason doesn't buy it. So then Sewey claims it was a Gnome. He now has a fortnight, (which Bran says is 14 days, and I've wondered what a fortnight is as well) to catch the “Gnome” and prove it. Or the officer will bust a cap and kill him.
In other news, Clarence happens to be alive! This makes me happy. I kind of like the name Clarence. So, I have to keep reading to find out if he dies or not. Either he'll die really epically and it'll be really sad, or he won't die at all. I'm leaning towards that he won't die, at least not in this book, for 1. Because I don't want him to, and 2. Because he didn't die in The Prologue after all, so he probably has an important part to play in the story.
Kaleb said he likes Gnomes because, “They're in my book”. Well, he had to have liked Gnomes before then, and I just wonder what his obsession is with them. I mean, everybody has a favorite something, but what exactly is it about Gnomes that Kaleb really likes? And why isn't the main character of his book a Gnome?

Or is he?