Daneel's intention was clear- he wanted to leave after having Eloise take over, but it looked like he would have no such option.
He tried it, and it had almost resulted in disaster. Eloise had quickly hastened over after hearing him, and after she arrived, she actually saw the situation for what it was and did not get her eyes clouded due to baseless emotions. She was even a bit amused, knowing that Daneel was only doing it because of his sense of decency, but before she could walk forward and take up the duty given to her by the king to anoint the Divine Cockroach in the ways of the human world, both of them disappeared, and then instantly reappeared with Daneel having added alarm to his face, along with the medley of emotions that were already present.
The reason behind that was that Daneel had teleported away to his quarters, and in an instant, Skrr had followed. She had done it almost instinctively, and it looked like she had gotten a few abilities due to her breakthrough that she hadn't had before. With no other option, Daneel had teleported back, and he also thanked his lucky stars that he hadn't gone to some other public place where any misunderstandings would definitely have occurred which would have run rampant throughout the kingdom who were all thinking of him as a role model to aspire to.
He might be following the ways of the World Dominator, but that did not mean that he would have to leave behind the basic honor that should be afforded to a woman, and especially one who could easily be taken advantage of.
Hence, Daneel could only shake his head and sit on a chair with his eyes closed, while Eloise came over and sweetly talked to the little girl.
Her face still made him call her that, and Eloise actually also used the same two words. Her natural charm worked here again, and Skrr quickly began to listen to everything that was being told to her with a very serious expression on her face.
She looked to be the curious and inquisitive type, as she kept asking questions. Most of them were obvious, and of the sort which she had expressed before, and whenever she got an answer, she would bob her head up and down in a dainty manner. Daneel had been looking on because by that time, her clothes situation had been sorted by Eloise going forward and doing it herself so that she could show how it was supposed to be done.
Wearing a grey dress, Skrr was the very picture of innocence, but her constant questions to Daneel were anything but that.
"Have you thought about it?"
"The stones are so shiny, I promise!"
"Oh, Skrr will never be able to face her mom if she doesn't fulfill her mission. You would want to fulfill something given by your mom, too, right? Then get going, then!"
"What if you are mistaken about the mutant part…"
Daneel had had enough after that last question, and he finally snapped, saying, "At the moment, there are no male Divine Cockroachs alive! I will search for you, but I don't know if I'll be successful! That other person of your species must have been searching for a long time, and she didn't find any! Even if it does happen, it will take time! And it's definitely not a misunderstanding!"
This moment… Was something that Daneel soon came to regret, because, for the first time, he saw Eloise go against him.
And the reason behind that… Was that tears had begun to slide down Skrr's cheeks while her startlingly blue, wide-open eyes stared at Daneel.
Even Daneel felt like scolding himself as he saw this, and what she said afterward only made it worse.
"No one ever scolded Skrr throughout her life. Skrr was always a good girl. Skrr listens to everything, and Skrr was even the apple of mom's life!"
Daneel didn't even know what he was supposed to say to apologize. Whatever had made him snap in that manner had been melted away by the tears, and he had also remarked to himself that he should have a tighter hold on himself in the future in such situations, especially if he was going to continue on the path he had chosen. Saying that he was sorry would not cut it, and he also could not promise that he would find a mate for her, because he really had no idea how he would go about searching for a male Divine cockroach. It had been a pretty daunting task even before, when he had found out that he needed the consciousness of one of that species, and he had only been fortunate that the old man in Elanev's head had already known the location where he could find one.
Eloise actually caught Skrr's shoulders and looked at him in a reproaching manner, and that was when he understood that he had really done something pretty damn wrong.
So, he took a moment to think, and after that, he put his hand on Skrr's head, feeling her soft and glossy brown hair which peculiarly cascaded down until her knees.
Skrr actually paused her crying and looked up with those eyes which had more of a devastating effect than anything that the puppy eyes from Earth could achieve, and Daneel actually had to fight off the urge to just say that he would definitely succeed.
Instead, he went with what he had decided.
"Look, Skrr. I don't know you very well, but because I didn't cheat you, it seems that you trust me. I appreciate that, and I will never break your trust. Like that lady said, I know you're very weak now, and I will protect you, and stay around you until you come into your powers. I also know that it is of paramount importance to you that you mate and take forward your species, and I promise that I will put my utmost efforts towards ensuring that that happens. It might take time, though, because we don't know who else might have been lucky enough to hibernate and properly live until now like you. If you need anything, you can ask me. Alright?"
As he said this, Daneel also teleported over a large lollipop and handed it to the little girl, who sniffed it with curiosity and then took it in her hands.
After all, wasn't it said that the stomach was the way to a girl's heart?
Although he didn't want her heart, he did feel that she was a unique individual who was to be admired. For so many years, she had been alone, but no matter how long had passed, she still wanted to just fulfill the mission given to her by her mother. She seemed innocent, but there was actually a lot going on in her mind, and her mother had also taught her well regarding the world. Moreover… She was incredibly adorable, and Daneel knew for sure that if she had been on Earth, she would definitely have taken the entire world by storm.
She was also a Godbeast, which meant that her power would skyrocket as soon as she fully matured.
Daneel had been thinking of this ever since things had quieted down, but he actually didn't feel like making any grand plans around her. Seeing her, no one would even want to do that, so his promise had actually been an honest one, and it had had no ulterior motives behind it. His attitude really was to just be himself and help her, and as he saw Skrr open her arms in a gesture that almost looked like she was asking for a hug, he wondered it might mean something else for Divine Cockroaches.
Her words made it clear, though.
"Alright. Mom did use to say that Skrr badgers people too much. Thank you for the promise. You made Skrr cry, but you gave Skrr that tasty thing, so we should hug and make things right. Mom said hugs are best for that."
While he had been thinking, Skrr had swallowed the lollipop whole, including the wooden stick that was used to hold it, following which a pretty smile had come on her face before she said this.
With a broad smile lighting up his own face, Daneel bent and smelled that sweet scent again, following which Eloise also came and joined in, as she couldn't resist.
They were almost like a little family, with the atmosphere only tainted slightly by the crunching sound that was being made by Skrr's teeth as she bit the candy and the wood, swallowing them together almost as if the two were meant to be eaten together.
"Can I have more? A thousand more, please. Oh, mom said Skrr can pay humans with rocks. Do you want those rocks in return? Skrr shouldn't take things for free."
This made them break up the hug while they chuckled, but after that, Daneel actually got a slight suspicion.
Rocks. She kept calling them rocks. But what if they were something else?
Curious, Daneel nodded, following which Skrr beamed, dazzling them with her pure joy.
A moment after that, though, she disappeared for a second, and Daneel expected her to return to her original form. He actually felt a bit eager to see what a Hero-level Divine Cockroach would look like, as all Hero-level Godbeasts were said to be magnificent beings.
However, a moment later, Skrr reappeared at the same spot and actually almost collapsed to the ground.
The blood had drained from her face, and she looked so weak that it was possible that she could pass out at any time.
Daneel and Eloise ran forward together, but Daneel reached first. As soon as he caught her, she said, "Skrr…feeling weak. Transformation…feels hard."
Almost smacking his forehead and realizing what was wrong, Daneel said, "It's because you're weak right now. You can pay us later. You should rest for now."
As if she was mustering her last ounce of strength, Skrr obstinately shook her head and said, "No! Mom said 'don't take things for free'! I'll show you where it is! Go in that direction!"
It looked like there was no talking the girl out of it, so Daneel obliged.
The three of them started traveling in the direction she indicated, and Skrr was actually slung onto Daneel's shoulders, while she looked forward happily, with her antennae swinging around.
She seemed to be thinking of the candy, which was giving her this enthusiasm even though her body was still weak.
They had to go many kilometers underground, and they also had to take a lot of turns. There was no way that wherever they were going could be found by anyone, because it was hidden so deep under Angaria that one would need hundreds of lifetimes to scan it all carefully.
Soon, though, Skrr said, "It's right ahead. Stop and punch hard. Hard!"
Daneel obliged, and the next moment, both Eloise and the King of Lanthanor felt their jaws drop as they saw one of the most incredible sights of their life.
In front of them…was a cave, but it was the most dazzling one that they had ever seen.
It was filled with red objects that interweaved with the earth all around, and although it was a small place, its value…might probably be more than a few Kingdoms combined together.
It…was a Ker Gem mine.
And like the icing on a cake, there were a few additional clumps of Ker Roots in the middle of the cave, which must be the 'shiny rocks' that Skrr had collected.
Her voice interrupted their shock, as she asked with a hopeful tone, "Can I have a thousand, please? This is all I have…if you want more, maybe I can search, but I don't think I'll find anything…"
In response, Daneel and Eloise could only look at each other and burst out laughing.
Setting Skrr down, Daneel exclaimed in a voice that echoed throughout the cave.
"No…but you can have ten thousand! Or make it a million! Or how about I set up a lollipop factory just for you?"
It was amazing to see the crestfallen expression on hearing the 'no' transform into an ecstatic one, and as Skrr smiled again, the two of them internally made the same decision: no matter what happened, they wouldn't let anything happen to this innocent little one.
Skrr said she felt sleepy after that, and by the time Daneel was done carefully concealing the cave, she was fast asleep.
The next day, six of them set out for the mountain top.
They were Daneel, Eloise, Aran, Elanev, Faxul, and Skrr, who was still sleeping soundly.
Right before they vanished, the sun broke through the clouds and shone on their faces that were filled with hope and determination.
The next second, they were all gone, and as the sun continued to herald a new day, the Order…just didn't know that on this day, it would take in a couple of people who seemed normal, but were actually...anything but so.