The next day, dawn.

Aleksey woke up early, as usual.

He glanced at the black streets outside the window, his gaze lingering on the opened letter on the bedside table. The back of the letter was covered with strange markings of four vertical and one horizontal strokes, which, in all likelihood, was some kind of counting method.

Compared to the information revealed by the markings on the back and the strange creases of the paper, the text written on the letter was surprisingly simple, with only a nonsensical sentence: [These comrades can be trusted, Aleksey.]

Of course, there was also Makarov's neat signature, and the stamp of the Nikolaev Shipyard.

"Looks like everything yesterday wasn't a dream." Aleksey shook his head self-deprecatingly, "That silly kid Frank actually became a wizard, single-handedly took care of four American agents, and told me that the magical world plans to invite me to a potato store for a cashier and salesperson interview. Even in a dream, it wouldn't be this ridiculous and crazy."

Aleksey sat up from the bed. His wife had already gotten up, and the slightly burnt smell of toast wafted from the kitchen.

After many days of snowy and rainy weather outside the window, it finally stopped. Aleksey felt as if he had returned to the days when he first joined the research institute decades ago, full of energy and excitement and curiosity about the unknown.

The middle-aged man put on his clothes, tucked the letter on the bedside table into his arms, stood up and walked straight to the kitchen. Looking at his wife, who was still busy as usual, a touch of tenderness appeared in his eyes. He walked over and gently hugged her.

"Natasha, I'm unemployed. The Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics... has been shut down."

"I heard Katerina next door say it already. It's okay if it's gone. Anyway, the institute hasn't paid wages for a long time."

The woman's body stiffened, then quickly relaxed. While continuing to watch the milk boiling in the small iron pot in front of her, she calmly asked, "So what are you going to do next? It wouldn't be bad to rest at home for a while."

"Huh? How do you know the institute hasn't paid wages?! I didn't..."

"I'm not stupid, Aleksey. So many people around are cursing the government for arrears in wages, how could you be the only one who can still get paid normally every month and come home - besides, couldn't you at least change the envelope you use to store the salary?"

"Natasha, I..."

Aleksey was slightly stunned, and rarely stuttered.

Natasha turned her head, glanced at her husband, and put her finger on Aleksey's lips.

"Okay, just sell those medals, anyway, I've long disliked wiping them... Don't bother me here, please return to your post, Comrade Aleksey, you still have to go out to work later - keep your voice down, Lova is still sleeping, don't wake her up."

"Yes, yes, sir, I obey, officer."

Aleksey replied with a smile, without the toughness and competence he showed outside.

The middle-aged man obediently sat at the dining table, waiting for his wife to bring the hot milk and toast to him.

And in another hour, his ten-year-old daughter Danilova would get up. Fortunately, in this chaotic and confusing era, Moscow's schools are temporarily quiet havens... although, the recession will eventually affect them.

"I might be a little late today, I'll go and see if there's any work for me..."

Standing at the door, Aleksey gently hugged his wife, closed the door and walked along the street.

When he reached the corner, away from the crossroads visible from the windows of the house, Aleksey stopped for the first time, exhaled into the cold air, and looked around, as if searching for someone.

"Good morning, Mr. Aleksey."

"Good morning, Frank."

As usual, Frank, in a gray cloak, suddenly appeared on the street next to him, as if he had been standing there all along. He was holding a bag of soft bread under his arm, a sausage in his mouth, and greeted him vaguely.

"Oh, I thought you would sleep in a little longer today."

Frank tried to swallow what he was chewing in his mouth, and said with a little embarrassment, "So are you going to the Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics first, or directly to us? By the way, would you like a piece of bread? This was sent over from the house-elves, although it might be a little cold, but the taste is still good..."

"There's no point in going to the institute, they burned all the files last night."

Aleksey sighed softly, shook his head and followed Frank forward, asking curiously.

"You just said... elves?"

"Uh, house-elves, a kind of magical creature, usually only found in old wizarding families."

Frank waved his hand, casually broke off a piece of soft bread and handed it to Aleksey, explaining indifferently.

"Destiny is a quite complex and huge organization, let alone house-elves, you might even see live goblins later, uh, maybe not quite like the way muggles imagine them. They're about the height of children, look like little old men, about this tall. Of course, Miss Theresa is also this tall."

As he said this, Frank thought for a moment and gestured around his waist.

Aleksey nodded thoughtfully, carefully observing the surrounding environment. It was still the familiar street, with bookstores, cinemas, sea fish stores, and bakeries on the busy road. It was hard to imagine suddenly seeing a strange magical creature.

"So, the Miss Theresa you're talking about... is also a goblin?"

"Not really, Miss is a witch. In fact, this group of goblins in Destiny Group were rescued from Gringotts' prison by Uncle Meyer and the others not long ago. It is said that they were all unlucky guys who were about to be secretly executed due to internal strife."

"Gringotts?"

"Yeah, it's the bank in the magical world."

"You wizards even have your own bank?"

"There's only one, Gringotts Wizarding Bank, but to be precise, it doesn't belong to the wizards... Gringotts is run and controlled by the goblins, at least for now, but you never know what might happen in the future."

"Oh? Is that so? Interesting."

Aleksey looked at the young wizard leading the way in front of him, hesitated for a few seconds, and said earnestly.

"But Frank, shouldn't this kind of information be classified? Is there any problem with you telling me this directly? I mean, if there's a leak, it would be very troublesome for you, right?"

"It's okay, even if I don't say it, Miss won't hide anything when you ask her later."

Frank turned his head, returned a bright smile, and replied confidently with a meaningful tone.

"Besides, a steadfast liar like you wouldn't leak secrets, would you?"

A steadfast... liar?!

Aleksey raised his eyebrows in confusion, not understanding what Frank meant.

However, before he could ask clearly.

"We're here."

After walking a few more steps, Frank suddenly stopped, "We've arrived, the Bolshevik Iron Hammer Tavern."

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Chapter 1!