Alien world, Middle Ages. A bourgeois revolution took place in the state of Aradalanga. The king was executed, the Inquisition was banned... But the Inquisition did not cease to exist, it simply went underground and continues to operate, only in secret. As before, she calculates and punishes sorcerers. Suspicion falls on the capital's pharmacist and doctor, Mr. Alaglani, and a spy, a 14-year-old boy named Gilar, is sent to his house as a servant. He has a difficult task: not only to find out whether the pharmacist practices witchcraft, but also to understand the principle of operation of his magic. While carrying out this task, Gilar gets into various troubles and thinks about a lot; duty and honor fight in his soul. And then he begins his game...

The text is presented in the author's edition.