Episode 61 — Reboot and the Knight’s Pride

Belfered grabbed the sword displayed behind him.

Taking that as a signal, the black-clad assassins lurking in every corner of the room leaped out simultaneously, without a sound.

"...At least you have the numbers."

I readied my jet-black sword and struck the nearest man in the solar plexus with the pommel using the shortest possible trajectory.

The man collapsed to his knees, unable to even let out a cry. I then parried a blade coming from the side with a minimal movement, flicked my wrist, and struck the opponent’s arm. The dry sound of a weapon hitting the floor echoed through the room.

(What a pain. I can see every single move you're making.)

I glanced back to see the battlefield descending into a chaotic melee. Kyle was pushing back enemies with his shield, while Lin used magical shockwaves to disrupt their formation. Volg was busy eliminating men who were once his own comrades.

However, there was one man whose behavior was clearly "glitching."

"Wait... Against a thrust from this angle, the 'optimal solution' my evasion brings is... No, given the multiple opponents, to maintain the Nash Equilibrium..."

It was Bartos.

He stood frozen before the enemies surrounding him from all sides, sword readied, muttering something under his breath.

"Hey, Master Bartos! What are you doing!? Charge already!"

Kyle’s shout didn't even seem to reach his ears.

Bartos had over-calculated the contents of the *Introduction to Logic* Zect had given him, and the sheer number of variables had caused his thoughts to overflow.

"Assuming the enemy's murderous intent is a 'negative variable' and my Knighthood is a 'constant'... U-Umm... there is no solution. The logical step in this situation is..."

Ugh, honestly.

Just watching him was making me irritable.

I stepped in and used the flat of my blade to parry an enemy’s axe that was about to swing down on Bartos.

"L-Lady Meina... I am currently deriving a logical solution—"

Without a shred of mercy, I slammed my right foot into the solar plexus of the mid-sentence Bartos.

"—GWAH!!"

Bartos’s massive frame, heavy plate armor and all, was sent flying several meters.

Kyle and Lin both screamed, "Whaaaaaat!?" and even Belfered’s eyes went wide.

"...W-What... Lady Meina..."

Bartos rolled across the floor and looked up with an expression of agony.

For a single, fleeting moment, I stripped away my mask as the adventurer Meina.

I looked down at him.

What dwelt in my eyes was a coldness like the abyss—the gaze of Tarmane, the Legendary Apostle of Darkness who once made the entire continent tremble with fear.

"...Shut up. I’m not Meina right now. Who am I?"

I whispered softly, in a voice only Bartos could hear.

That alone was enough to freeze the air in the entire room. The men who were fighting stopped in their tracks, everyone pinned to the spot by an instinctive terror.

"Do you want to be a scholar? No, you don't."

I took a step toward Bartos.

My shadow swayed like a gargantuan beast, swallowing him whole.

"If you're a knight, scream with your soul, not your head. Is the 'Logic' you're supposed to protect only found in some flimsy book?"

The color drained from Bartos’s face.

But in the depths of his eyes, I saw the "Knight’s Flame"—which should have been dead—reignite in an instant.

I let the intimidation dissipate and returned to being "Meina."

"...Get up already. Fixing bugs is *his* job. Cleaning up enemies is *yours*, isn't it?"

Silence.

The next moment, with a tremendous clatter of metal, Bartos stood up.

The power overflowing from his body completely burned away his previous hesitation.

"............Understood!!"

A roar.

Bartos correctly readied his sword in a mid-level stance and stepped forward with a stride that held not a single shred of doubt.

"The knight's mission that lies beyond logic... I understand it now! ...Make way! Bartos, the Shield of Felsen, is coming through!!"

His charge was nothing less than a storm.

He mowed down the swarming assassins with a single swing of his shield, shattering the enemy formation.

"...Hmph. Looks like he finally rebooted."

I gave a small snort.

Now, all that remained was that man with the monocle who had been watching from his high perch.

"Volg. ...Shall we go make a complete mess of that boss’s 'ledgers'?"

"...Yeah, you don't have to tell me twice."

Volg gave a strained smirk and began to close in on Belfered.

The time for the final cleanup was near.

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