Stern fell silent for a moment, then suddenly understood something.
He raised a hand to his left shoulder. Through the stiff fabric of his coat, he could vaguely make out unnatural, tiny bulges in the skin beneath.
Stern closed his eyes, and an image flashed through his mind—Headmaster Fontana looking at him with concern as he patted his shoulder.
No wonder... the organization's base had been so well concealed, yet wizards had still broken in without warning.
Just seconds ago, a dark suspicion had crossed his mind. He had thought Brolin or Abigail had betrayed the organization.
But now, he finally understood. The traitor who had brought disaster into their nest—
was himself, the one who had been planted with a Tracking Charm!
He normally would never have been so careless.
Whenever he returned to the base, Stern would inspect himself over and over like a wary cheetah, changing all his clothes and shoes to make sure he left behind no trace that could endanger their nest.
If he had done the same yesterday, then even if he could not have prevented the base from being exposed, he could at least have bought precious time—enough to warn all his companions to evacuate and leave the wizards empty-handed!
But last night...
Last night, he had been drowning in pain, with Brolin's cold interrogation echoing endlessly in his ears.
The organization's beliefs, his companions' safety, the hatred that had run through his life, and his basic morality had torn fiercely at one another in his mind, nearly driving him to collapse.
He had sunk into that chaos of thoughts, not even knowing when he had fallen asleep.
It was only one lapse! He had only made this one mistake!
Yet the consequences were so devastating that Stern could not bear them.
The