In a Female-Dominant World with a 5:1 Gender Ratio, I Saved a Girl as a Kid, and She Said She Wanted to Be My Bride—Who Would’ve Thought She Was a Princess… - 39

Chapter 39: The Phantom of My Homeland and the Tragedy That Recurred

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(Alto’s POV)

“…You knew, didn’t you? You sent me there knowing from the start that I’d fail!?”

My furious shout echoed through the cold, sterile laboratory. Gideon, whose collar I had grabbed, did not even try to resist. He merely looked down at me with eyes filled with a deep, stagnant murk.

“…Let go, Alto.”

“Don’t screw with me! Lilianna was this close to dying! Did you use her life for the sake of your ‘test’?!”

“Yes.”

Gideon affirmed it without hesitation. At his blunt admission, I was left speechless, my fist tightening. Should I hit him? Should I knock this old man flat and storm out of here? But just before I did, the words Gideon muttered froze me in place.

“…Just as I once did.”

Gideon reached out and grabbed my wrist. With strength like a vise—unthinkable for an old man—he pried my hand away, then loosened the collar of his shirt. There, hanging against his chest, was an old locket pendant. He opened it and showed me what was inside. Within was the portrait of a beautiful woman. Silver hair, and eyes like violet amethyst.

“…Lilianna?”

“No. You’re mistaken.”

Gideon shook his head and gently traced the picture with a finger, as if caressing something precious.

“Her name was Eleanor. …She was Princess Lilianna’s mother, and the woman I failed to save.”

I sucked in a sharp breath. The name written in his journals. The patient he had devoted his entire life to curing.

“I was just like you.” 

Gideon said with a self-mocking smile as he sank back into his chair.

“I loved her. And to save her, I committed every taboo imaginable. …I developed medicines, assembled spell formulas, and even created a ‘blocking device’ equivalent to the one I had you make this time. I mobilized all the knowledge I possessed… No, all of my ‘scientific knowledge from a previous life.’”

“…What?”

What did he just say? A previous life? Scientific knowledge?

Ignoring my confusion, Gideon continued calmly.

“But it was all pointless. Every time I tried to protect her with a perfect theory, that ‘Demon King’ would sneer and increase his output, breaking her bit by bit. …You cannot win by defending alone, Alto. Before that man, our resistance is nothing to fear.”

A dark flame ignited in Gideon’s eyes.

“That is why I made you fail. So that you would feel that man’s ‘malice’ with your own skin, and understand down to the marrow that merely protecting solves nothing.”

He stood up and gripped my shoulder.

“You are kind. But that kindness alone will end up killing her. …Just like I once did.”

I was at a loss for words. So he had fought too. Just like me, he had challenged an insurmountable wall to protect someone precious…And lost.

“…What are you?” 

I asked in a trembling voice. Gideon grinned. It was not the smile of a sage, but one that felt strangely nostalgic, like that of an old troublemaking friend.

“My real name is not Gideon.”

In a language that should not exist in this world, he spoke fluently:

“—I’m the same as you. A lost Japanese man, thrown into this world from another dimension.”

The shock pierced straight through my skull. A reincarnator. There were others besides me?

“…You’re kidding.”

“I’m not. The equipment in this ruin, and the theory that defines magic as ‘nanomachine control’… Even if the people of this world can’t understand it, you should.”

Gideon operated a terminal on the workbench. What appeared on the monitor was not a magic circle. It was complex source code, and English text.

『System Error: Target “Eleanor” Lost.』

It was a record of his defeat.

“This world is insane. An overly advanced civilization has disguised itself as magic and manages humans like livestock inside a terrarium. …And that ‘Demon King’ is a ghost trying to seize control of that terrarium.”

Gideon turned to me and extended his hand.

“I failed. I couldn’t save Eleanor, and I became nothing more than a defeated man hiding away here. …But you’re different. You possess an ‘authority of power’ that I never had.”

My “power of nothingness.” A power that nullified mana and devoured the very laws of reality.

“Alto. If you truly wish to save Princess Lilianna, then I will help you. My knowledge, and your unique power… If we combine those two, we might be able to defeat that god-pretending bastard.”

I stared at the outstretched hand. Wrinkled, stained with oil. But it was the hand of someone who knew the same “pain” I did. My anger had not vanished. But its direction had become perfectly clear. The one I should be facing was not Gideon. It was that hologram man somewhere in this world.

“…Fine. I’ll take you up on it, senpai.”

I firmly grasped his hand.

“It’s to save Lilianna. …I’ll shoulder your regrets along with mine.”

For just an instant, Gideon looked as though he might cry, before quickly twisting his face into a sharp-tongued grin.

“You’re a mouthy brat. …Very well, then.. Let’s have a strategy meeting. This time, we’ll rewrite that damn fate scenario for good.”

Deep within the ruins, two reincarnators joined hands. One man who had lost the woman he loved. And one man who was on the verge of losing her.

Two stubborn wills, transcending time itself, began their rebellion against the world.

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