Gideon could finally see hope.
Compared to forcing Summer and Freya to choose between him and their mother, this path was far better.
If Delilah could approve of their relationship—if he could make her accept him, or even make her fall for him—everything would fall into place much more smoothly.
He needed at least five women to complete one of the system's objectives.
[Make at least five women pregnant with your babies. Bonus will be added every time a harem member becomes pregnant.]
The objectives given by the system always came with rewards far greater than the bonuses themselves. In that sense, this situation was a perfect win-win.
However, what Delilah said next stopped his thoughts completely.
"But I can't know you better if you lie to us."
She paused for a moment before continuing.
"You're not really suffering from memory loss, are you?"
Gideon stiffened.
"I may not have ever met someone with amnesia," Delilah said calmly, "but I know how they should feel, confused, afraid, and lost. Waking up in the middle of a desert you don't remember, with no idea where you came from. That should be terrifying."
Her hand gently brushed through his hair. To Gideon, the touch felt less comforting and more like a warning.
"But you never showed that fear when we first met. You weren't confused, and you weren't scared."
Gideon clenched his hands. The truth was simple. He wasn't afraid because this world, no matter how brutal it was, felt better than the life he left behind.
A life spent lying in a hospital bed, staring at white ceilings, rereading the same novels again and again just to escape reality.
In that bed, he had dreamed of this; friends, love, a family.
He hadn't been scared when he first saw an aberrant. He had never truly been scared of death either.
The only thing that had terrified him was realizing he had wasted his youth, his future, and his entire life rotting away.
Nothing was scarier than that.
"But you don't have to answer me, Gideon," Delilah said gently. "You must have your reasons."
She continued, her voice softening.
"I may have only known you for a few days, and spent only a few hours with you, but the way you take care of Summer tells me a lot about the kind of person you are."
She sighed. "I just can't fully trust you yet."
"I understand, Mrs. Miller," Gideon said, finally letting out a breath he did not realize he had been holding.
There was no way he could ever tell her the truth, that he came from another world.
"You're seeing this from a mother's perspective, in a world filled with uncertainty," he continued. "I don't blame you for that. But I hope you'll open your heart to me, even just a little."
Delilah chuckled quietly. "I can't trust words alone," she said. "Lying is easy. Making promises is easy too."
Gideon nodded slowly. "Then stay here with me," he said. "With Summer and Freya. Live here for a while, and I'll show you."
Delilah did not answer immediately.
Worse, Gideon could not read her expression at all. He already knew what she was thinking, this sounded like a terrible idea.
Suddenly, she pulled his hair, making him flinch.
"Ouch."
"Sorry," she said flatly. "I thought I saw a lice."
She cleared her throat. "This place is nice. Really. But I know how dangerous it can be out here, Gideon. I don't think it's a good idea."
"Just stay for a while," he said quickly. "Summer isn't well yet. She can't travel in her condition."
Delilah fell silent for a moment before finally sighing.
"Fine. Just a few days. I still need to work, and this place is far from everything."
Gideon's eyes lit up. "Don't worry, I can ask Jade to lend you one of those three-wheeled vehicles. You can leave anytime you want."
He had done it. He had actually convinced her to stay.
"But can that thing go up and down the canyons?" he asked. "How did you even get here with such a big vehicle?"
"It can't," Delilah replied. "Those vehicles are built to survive harsh weather and rough desert paths, but they're too heavy to climb steep canyons."
She glanced at him.
"We use the large cave system connected to this area. How did you get here?"
"Through the canyons."
She pulled his hair again.
"Ouch. That hurts."
"Yeah," she said coolly. "That's a big tick right there. Next time, don't do something stupid like that."
***
As evening settled in, Jade and Kilian decided it was time to head back. It turned out that the Glowbats living inside the cave only passed through during certain hours.
From morning until early night, they slept deeply on the cave ceiling, motionless and clustered together, only leaving to hunt once darkness fully fell.
Since the Glowbats were almost blind and deaf while sleeping, it was safe to pass through the cave during that time.
"We'll take five liters of the soil first, and one bag of tomatoes," Jade said while Kilian moved containers filled with dark earth into the vehicle.
"As for your requests," she continued, "we'll fulfill them periodically. Especially the intelligence and skilled workers."
"As for the additional terms you proposed for our next purchase, we'll exchange one bag containing three different types of seeds and twenty liters of fertile soil for either one hundred A-rank cores or ten S-rank cores."
"While the twenty cores you ask for will arrive tomorrow."
"Honestly," Kilian added with a tired sigh while lifting the last container, "do we really look like people who neatly catalog everything?"
Gideon shook his head slightly. 'I really wonder how they manage their territory like this,' he thought.
"By the way, how about lending me one of those vehicles? It would make traveling back and forth much easier."
"Sure," Kilian replied. "We have one that's rarely used. Just remember, the fuel comes from extracted cores."
He clapped his hands together to knock the remaining soil off his gloves.
"If there's nothing else," Jade said as she climbed into her vehicle, "we'll be going now."
"Shouldn't we make a written contract? There must still be a lawyer somewhere, right?"
"There is," Jade answered while putting on her mask. "We'll bring him tomorrow. For now, we need to leave. Traveling at night isn't safe."
Before starting the engine, she glanced at him and gave a playful wink.
"Next time, let's meet in private, Lord of Cinders of Dusk."
"Of course," Gideon replied with a teasing smile. "But next time, you'll have to pay more."
"Hah! I will," she laughed.
With that, Jade, Kilian, and Elaine left his territory, their vehicles disappearing into the distance.
Gideon had wanted Elaine to stay, but he knew it would be difficult. She was still a doctor stationed at Climber Rift, and leaving her post was not something she could do easily.
Still, Gideon's grin slowly widened.
He already had another plan to make her join his harem.