At the edge of the colony, a squad of young German Aurors were laughing, roughhousing, and chatting excitedly, until they ran into the British Aurors stationed in the colony. Only then did they stop joking. He raised an arm, halting his companions' steps.
For a moment, the German Auror hesitated, wavering over whether to keep going or detour around them. After all, the recent news everyone had been heatedly discussing—the incident at the international wizarding dueling arena in Greece—had supposedly involved the appearance of his own country's Double-headed Eagle emblem. Some rumors had also hinted, indirectly, that the matter had a great deal to do with Germany...
Though to most ordinary wizards, those terrorist attacks had done little beyond giving them more to talk about in taverns, and British wizards and German or Austrian wizards still did whatever they came here to do, at least the colony's business had not been affected.
Even so, seeing those fully armed British Aurors ahead, the German Auror decided it was best not to make direct contact, in case there were nationalists among them. He signaled for his team to tread lightly, then pretended he had not seen the British Aurors and led his men in a slight detour around them.
"Good afternoon, gentlemen?" The British Aurors had clearly noticed them as well, and called out a greeting.
That only made the German Aurors sigh and turn back.
"Hello, everyone. I wonder what brings you here at this hour... may I ask what business you have here?" The leading British Auror quietly tightened his grip on the wand in his hand, frowning and narrowing his eyes as he sized up the German Aurors.
These British Aurors had all already received the notice and knew that the United Kingdom had declared war on Germany, Bulgaria,