...A slightly different reality, a slightly different country, similar to ours - and not similar. But the problem is eternal, Russian - roads and distances. The path from Moscow City to Northern Palmyra is long and tiring; it is difficult to govern a state with two capitals that face in different directions, like a double-headed eagle on a coat of arms. And so, wanting to please Emperor Paul II Ioannovich, officials of the Ministry of Railways conceived an unprecedented idea: to link both capital with a magical portal. A bold project, big millions at stake. All leading Russian sorcerers dream of such a lucrative order, but only two of them receive it. And soon both die a terrible death at the hands of an unknown villain. What is this? Simple robbery? Reprisals against rivals? Or something much more terrible and secret, capable of influencing the fate of the entire country, changing the course of its history? A young but very promising detective official, Ivensky, and his newly minted assistant, Udaltsov, take on the investigation of the crime. Very soon they realize what a dangerous task they have been given and how difficult it will be to complete it. Because a black mountain has grown in a wild field, and a black tower rises at the top, and an ancient evil nests in that tower, threatening Russia with great misfortune. And only a folk hero named Ivan is able to overcome this evil - better, of course, is the Tsarevich, but at worst, the Fool will do...