Chapter 73 (Is it better to make a vow to a person or to principles)

Draigo Roget arrives secretly on Lampadas to recruit Headmaster Gilbertus Albans, only to find Manford Torondo’s Butlerians besieging the Mentat School and planning Gilbertus’s dawn execution. Moving through the camp in disguise, Draigo confirms rumors that Gilbertus has confessed to a hidden past with Erasmus.

Manford interrogates Gilbertus about Erasmus’s motives and their relationship, declaring Gilbertus will die for humanity’s sake. Draigo scouts the prisoner’s tent, kills a rear guard silently with a throwing knife, then stuns and kills the two front guards to avoid any alarm.

Inside, Draigo urges Gilbertus to flee to VenHold protection. Gilbertus refuses, honoring his vow to Manford to safeguard the school from destruction, even at the cost of his life. He further reveals the truth: he is far older than he appears and once lived under Erasmus, confirming the Butlerians’ accusations.

Gilbertus redirects Draigo’s mission. He explains that Erasmus still exists and that Anna Corrino holds the robot’s memory core inside the school. Gilbertus tasks Draigo to infiltrate the complex via a hidden route, rescue Anna, and deliver Erasmus’s core to VenHold, which could protect them.

As Anari Idaho discovers the dead guards and raises the alarm, Draigo cuts through the tent’s rear and escapes into the swamps. He leaves Gilbertus behind to keep his promise, committing instead to save Anna and Erasmus’s core as the camp surges toward the prisoner’s tent.