The Quasardastan national team expresses gratitude to the tournament organizers and their opponents. Upon returning home, each athlete receives congratulations from Richard Lazhenhedzh, an apartment in an elite district of Hramia, and a personal car. Over the next three months, they all disappear under mysterious circumstances; one dies, presumably from a drug overdose; the second is found hanged in his home, and suicide is determined. Approximately the same fate befalls some of the country's wealthy residents. Two of Quazard's personal bodyguards, who have been his most loyal guards for many years, are simultaneously hospitalized with symptoms of severe food poisoning. Richard Lazhenhedzh promises to personally ensure the safety of the sick and allocate the best fighters to guard the dictator, whose condition has unexpectedly deteriorated sharply in recent days. The possibility of placing Quazard in an artificial coma is being discussed.