In the village of Chinabro, a recently arrived inquisitor dies under very strange circumstances. A woman nicknamed La Vecchia is accused of his death. Many local residents hate her, and it would seem that the case is simple, but the accused behaves too unusually during interrogations, and tells too unusual a story, despite torture and interrogations. And you can’t just brush it off, because according to legend, dragons once lived here, and they still sleep underground, which is why in the local mountains there is vermillion, a wonderful mineral that can cure all diseases and grant immortality. At least that's what people say. But only the pagans living nearby who call themselves enlightened can mine it, and the death of the inquisitor is somehow connected with all this. Versions are multiplying, reality is struggling with the unknown, the truth is slipping away. Perhaps the dragons have already awakened, and now it is unknown who is in greater danger: the accused or her executioners.