The main character of this novel, trying to save his friend’s granddaughter, goes to an unknown world—in the literal sense, to who-knows-where—and finds himself in the magical city of New Kitezhgrad. He has no gift for magic himself, yet, for some reason, local residents take an interest in him. In the end, he has to hide at the post station, becoming its supervisor, and he understands this: the neighbors waiting for him beyond the fence are so dangerous that even thinking about it is unpleasant.