Abigail moved with astonishing speed. As she turned, she rolled away to evade a possible attack, while her wand slid swiftly into her palm and aimed at the unexpected visitor at the door, its tip glinting with dangerous light.
Just as a spell was about to burst forth, she saw the man beneath the moonlight raise both hands with a smiling face.
Naturally, Abigail would not mistake his appearance.
The sharp hostility in Abigail's eyes was instantly replaced by intense surprise.
"An Acolyte... Braun? Why are you here?"
Abigail demanded harshly, ready at any moment to unleash a lethal spell.
"It seems I just saved you, miss," Braun said calmly. "Is this how you show your gratitude?"
Abigail did not lower her guard, but the arm holding her wand dipped slightly.
She said coldly, "I didn't need you. I could have handled it myself. But your unnecessary rescue ruined my plan!"
Abigail had no desire to be put at a disadvantage the moment they met because of an unnecessary "debt of gratitude."
But the elusive heir of the Acolytes, who was said to be impossible to pin down, seemed to have quite a good temper. He tilted his head, thought for a moment, and said:
"All right... that does seem to be the case. I apologize."
Abigail got up, kicked the corpse aside, and jumped down from the roadway. "You still haven't answered my question... why are you here?"
After a pause, she asked hoarsely, "Have the Acolytes... gotten involved in this too?"
Braun smiled. "Gotten involved too? That's not quite right. We started getting involved two years ago."
Abigail froze. "...Two years ago?"
That timing... was roughly when Grindelwald escaped from Nurmengard, and when the Acolytes began broadcasting on Streaming Mirror from time to time.
It was even... according