Armenia, the small town of Tsaghkadzor.

Unlike the tourist destination with high-end hotels and B&Bs lining the streets in Elena's "memory," the current "Valley of Flowers" in Armenia is still a border town without any resource value or much commercial development. Apart from foreign timber merchants and daily chemical merchants, there are hardly any tourists, and naturally, the only hotel is the Kecharis, run by the town mayor.

In fact, Kecharis is more like the Leaky Cauldron run by Hannah.

"Madam, rubles—you know, almost no one wants them anymore, but—"

Joel, the bartender on the night shift, licked his lips, his eyes greedily wandering over Arkhipovna's sensual face.

"There are some empty rooms, if your child can sleep alone, I can make an exception."

With the collapse of the Soviet Union, displaced people were almost everywhere. Compared to men with brute strength (or without), in this transitional period of near-economic collapse, young, sexy women were themselves a circulating currency, perhaps not of high value but very useful.

Although Old Joel was over sixty, he wouldn't easily let go of such a good thing that came to his door.

Compared to heavily made-up streetwalkers, this kind of down-on-her-luck woman dragging a child was obviously more tempting—the Armenian government had just resumed basic administrative activities, and local police affairs were still in chaos, not to mention in this remote town far from the city, and besides, he also...

"You don't accept rubles? Is US dollars okay?"

Arkhipovna frowned, took out a wallet from her coat pocket, and pulled out two ten-dollar bills from inside.

"Twenty dollars, for two nights, more than enough, right? By the way, if you want to have some fun, you can go to the red-light district six kilometers away. As long as you remember to pay, they shouldn't rip your balls off and twist them directly... Sir? Huh? Sir? Could it be that even US dollars can't circulate in Tsaghkadzor, or...do you want to see this?"

Arkhipovna gently slapped the two ten-dollar bills on the table, pulled open the right side of her coat, revealing the curves exuding mature feminine charm, and the full view of that big, black, thick treasure that firmly attracted Old Joel's gaze, a hint of teasing appearing on her sexy red lips.

"Remington m870, yes, also American-made. It's been a little chaotic lately, as a single mother I have to be careful."

"If my deadbeat husband didn't lie to me, this gun is now worth at least $500 on the market. It might be a little difficult to make change if it's used to pay for accommodation—but, I also have some small denominations for buying odds and ends..."

Arkhipovna held the American-style shotgun that Lockhart had gotten for her with one hand, and raised her right leg to step on a chair next to her.

A ring of ammunition pouches was strapped to her thigh, with two neat rows of red cylindrical ammunition arranged on top.

"Remington 12-gauge bullets, I heard they can be used to hunt bears, five dollars a shot. So..."

A certain Russian shrew counted out four bullets from her thigh and pressed them into the shotgun.

*Click.*

A pleasant and rhythmic cocking sound.

In Elena's dazed eyes, Arkhipovna raised the shotgun and gently pressed it against the chest of the poor man.

"Counterintelligence Bureau of the Soviet State Security Committee, Russian Federal Security Service on a mission, we are pursuing a traitor who has absconded with dangerous weapons data. We may have some questions to ask you later—of course, we will pay. Can I call you comrade?"

Looking at the man who looked as pale as if he had seen a ghost, Arkhipovna said softly with a gentle expression.

"By the way, is there hot water here? And... are there any ropes in the storage room?"

...

It turns out that researchers rarely have true low EQ.

In most cases, the low EQ they exhibit is mostly based on high-IQ calculations, which conclude that there is no need to spend energy explaining to idiots and considering the ideas of idiots, but in terms of the absolute value of both EQ and IQ, they are definitely the most outstanding group of people of their time.

Not to mention, Arkhipovna and others, who had experienced the brutal "political research" purges of the former Soviet Union, were even more outstanding among them.

In less than a quarter of an hour, Arkhipovna successfully extracted all the valuable information that Joel knew.

And throughout the entire process of coercion and enticement, Elena sat obediently in the corner of the room, holding the big suitcase adorably.

When they shook the keys and left the locked storage room, and came to the clean and tidy upstairs guest room, the false and dangerous agent expression on Arkhipovna's face suddenly disappeared. She breathed a long sigh of relief, put down the Remington m870 in her hand, and turned to look at Elena.

"Miss Kaslana, would you like a Russian statement, or should I translate it directly?"

Arkhipovna raised the paper and pen in her hand and looked expectantly at the girl standing by the window observing the street.

Did she think that without a translation to compare, I might suspect her of hiding something?

Elena was stunned for a moment, and then understood what Arkhipovna meant.

"It's okay, I trust your judgment and writing ability, and the time is pressing—I must first judge the danger in this area, after all, the Hyperion is still waiting for our news in the sky. Also, you can just call me Elena, you don't need to be so formal."

Elena pointed to the sky through the window, and after regaining her senses, she sat on the edge of the bed and said quickly, not caring at all.

Then, she took out her wand and tapped it gently around her, turned to look at Arkhipovna, and said solemnly with a serious expression.

"So what exactly happened? Do we have answers to the questions we prepared earlier?"

"There is not much useful information, but it is possible to lock down some areas—"

Arkhipovna shook her head slowly, recalling the news she had just asked from the bald man.

"According to the description of that lewd old guy, there have been no noteworthy accidents in the town in the past week—no gas pipeline explosions, no lightning strikes, no heavy rain collapses. The only thing that is a bit strange is that many of the town residents' dogs were barking this afternoon. But now it is quiet, and there are no other abnormalities besides that."

"Many town residents' dogs were barking? Did you ask where the barking started from?"

"Piyak Street, as for the specific location—go out from here and turn left for two hundred meters, turn right, turn left at the fork..."

Arkhipovna closed her eyes, replayed it in her mind for the second time, and then opened her eyes and said with certainty.

"That's right, if we filter from this information, then the abnormal area is located near the 'marked location' we just passed. If there are no accidents, that should be the residence of that Armenian old wizard, and we may be able to get more clues from him—"

"Yes, judging from the current situation, that's how it is. But not us, just me."

Elena nodded, pulled out the sleepy little food reserve from her chest, and shook it in the air.

When the little guy's confused eyes gradually became clear, Elena casually stuffed the little fat chicken into Arkhipovna's hands.

"Well, I will establish a temporary safe house here—it has a magic mark on its body, which can guide subsequent reinforcements directly to arrive, and can also guide you to break through the illusion on the return trip. Well, you send me to that 'marked location' later, and then return here immediately."

"Given that the 'Hanged Man' Major Arcana badge has been destroyed, I don't think you are very suitable to go to that area."

"Miss Fool, what exactly does destroying the Major Arcana badge mean?"

Arkhipovna was silent for a moment, looking at the fluffy little owl in her hand, and finally couldn't help but ask.

"Captured, or killed in battle—anyway, it won't be anything pleasant."

Elena shrugged and said calmly, her lake-blue eyes filled with indifference.

"Of course, these are just examples of countless bad possibilities. In the rules of the Major Arcana Council, when a Major Arcana member voluntarily destroys his badge, it means that he voluntarily gives up the equivalent rights of 'Major Arcana'. In short, unless he returns, he is equivalent to a corpse in all subsequent decisions. This is also the reason why the other two Major Arcana members proposed to gather manpower..."

"So, that guy Gilderoy, now... is very likely already dead?"

Arkhipovna said softly, biting her lip hard.

She put down the little owl and picked up the Remington m870 again, silently pulling the bolt.

"Miss Fool, I want to go with you—as Gilderoy Lockhart's fiancée. If there is an accident during the firefight, you can treat my A-level badge as destroyed as well. As for the safe house, anyway, with this little owl, the magic beacon can be maintained, right?"

Elena was silent for a few seconds and sighed helplessly.

"Okay, but if I activate Valkyrie, then your mission is over—"

She said, gently patted the suitcase that had not yet been opened, and said seriously with a serious expression.

"Also, no matter what happens or what you see, I hope you don't take it upon yourself to move around before I do, otherwise I will regard you as being mentally manipulated. Stay alert at all times, we may now be two prey caught in a trap..."

Arkhipovna nodded seriously, hiding the shotgun inside her coat as she had come.

After simply establishing the beacon and notifying the Hyperion to return as planned, Elena breathed a sigh of relief and stood up.

"Let's go, let's visit the residence of that old wizard."

The "conventional" weapons carried on the Hyperion are almost all war-level heavy weapons.

And after confirming that most of the residents here are indeed ordinary people, the space for the Hyperion to play is very small. Instead of letting that big guy wait in the sky, it is better to let it return so that it can transmit reinforcements as soon as the mobilization is over.

But before that...

Elena pulled Arkhipovna with one hand and waved her wand gently.

The figures of the two began to disappear inch by inch, like smoke and dust hidden in the air, leaving no outline or shadow.

The unknown peeping gazes on the street outside have not disappeared. If they leave directly from the hotel gate, there may be a lot of trouble afterward—although Elena is not worried about the danger, she does not want her time to be delayed by miscellaneous cannon fodder.

"You shouldn't die so easily, Mr. Lockhart..."

Looking at the silent street, Elena's eyes flickered, and she muttered softly in her heart.

After all, in this world line, Gilderoy Lockhart has never served as a professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts.

————

————

Yay!