There's also a phrase there: sell an eagle feather, of incredible size, to a scientist. But who could possibly need a feather? What do you think about that?
If we figure out who needs the feather, we'll understand who the quest giver is.
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Doesn't anything from the story, starting from the block and ending with the dismissal, seem strange to you?
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Although, I doubt it. Yesterday, the clue in the newspaper was in one phrase, and we found it correctly. So, it's probably the same here.