At almost the same time, the injured tall man returned to a research institute located somewhere. After treating his wounds in a room, he made a call.

The person on the other end was a man.

"Hey, it's you."

"Yeah."

The tall man replied with some difficulty.

"How did things go tonight?"

"We chased them for a long time but they managed to escape."

"That's unlike you. Did you encounter any obstacles?"

It seemed that the fact surprised the other person, so he asked about the reason directly. And the tall man himself felt a bit disgruntled and dejected.

"I was stopped by a little girl at the critical moment, so the intruder managed to escape."

"A little girl?"

Surprised voices came through.

"Yeah, if I'm not mistaken, it must be the Sword Sorcerer from the Far East."

"The Sword Sorcerer from the Far East? Are you talking about the Tsuchimikado family?"

"That's right."

"So, does that mean that person already knows about our plan?"

The other person's words seemed a bit unclear, but the tall man understood what he meant.

"No, I had a conversation with that person. Although there is a possibility that they deliberately concealed it, I think they shouldn't know. It seems that the little girl who stopped me was just meddling out of curiosity."

"Although it's unlikely that they know, we can't ignore it."

The other person reminded him.

"Yeah, and regarding the identity of the intruder, I have some understanding now."

"You mean you already guessed their identity?"

"No, I don't know their identity yet. I only know that they are a woman."

"Then..."

The other person paused and signaled for the tall man to continue.

"Although we didn't catch them this time, and I haven't figured out their true identity, I obtained some useful clues."

"Clues?"

"Yeah, it's possible that this may lead to an unexpected development in our plan. Although I still need further investigation, I have this hunch."

The tall man revealed a smug smile as he said this.

"Really? After all, the PC plan seems to have hit a bottleneck now. It would be great if it turns out as you said. Next, it seems that we need to make some changes in the plan. You can focus on investigating this aspect first, should be no problem, right?"

"Yeah, I estimate that I will be able to know their identity soon."

The tall man confidently replied.

"That's good. I'm hanging up now. We don't know the value of your clues yet, so we can't solely rely on your side. I also have to complete what I can within a certain range on my end because no matter what, the PC plan cannot fail."

"Yeah..."

Saying that, the other person hung up.

The camera then switches to the other side, the person who was talking with the tall man. The lighting in the room was dim, and someone was sitting on a chair with their back against the door. Just after ending the call, a voice came from the door.

"Director, this is the latest research data."

A person in a white lab coat walked in, holding a file. They should be a researcher here.

"Yeah."

The person known as the "Director" simply reached out his hand, and the researcher obediently handed over the report. Still facing away from the researcher, he glanced at it briefly.

"Although there has been some progress compared to earlier, it seems difficult to make any further advancements now."

"Yes, Director. After all, this matter has not been extensively researched before, so there is no precedent to follow. Therefore, it is unavoidable that progress has been slow."

The researcher replied with a somewhat reluctant tone.

"Then, what can be achieved at this point?"

"Based on the recent experiments conducted outside, we have essentially achieved the expected results. However, the duration is not long-lasting. The longest is only about ten minutes, and it seems that we are unable to replicate the same effect on the same target."

The man's tone sounded very disappointed. Although it was expected, he still couldn't be optimistic about it.

"I see. If that's the case, it doesn't meet the practical requirements at all. Moreover, based on the current results, it can be achieved through other means, so it doesn't have any special value."

"But..."

Upon hearing the man's response, the researcher's expression turned troubled.

Well, there's no use rushing now.

The person known as the "Director" also knew that there was no point in rushing.

So he brought up another topic.