Not long after Angel left the Fingernail Alchemy House, Fingernail Granny left as well. Her destination was the Research Institute.
This time, she was going to the Research Institute for Ivo's sake.
She had even decided to exercise her authority and force Director Muse out of seclusion. After all, Ivo's whereabouts concerned not only her, but also the Research Institute.
Back then, Ivo had been the most talented alchemist at the Research Institute. There had even been many voices in alchemy circles calling for him to succeed to the position of director. Yet he had suddenly vanished in the end, causing the Research Institute to lose, out of thin air, a genius who had pointed directly toward the realm of Mystery. How could they not care?
Moreover, though the Research Institute had existed for many years and was known as the alchemy holy land of the Southern Region, it had always had one regret: it lacked a mysterious alchemist to hold the fort.
The Research Institute's ambitions could not possibly stop at the Southern Region. They hoped to be called an alchemy holy land throughout the Wizarding World in all four directions, and even in the Source World.
Only by producing a mysterious alchemist could the Research Institute truly live up to the name "alchemy holy land." Otherwise, it was merely playing house behind closed doors in the Southern Region's Wizarding World.
That was precisely why Angel, someone who had once touched the realm of Mystery, had been so easily acknowledged by the overwhelming majority of Research Institute members.
And it was already set in stone that Ivo had created a mysterious object. In the eyes of the Research Institute's members, Ivo himself counted as a mysterious alchemist.
Thus, finding Ivo had been a goal the Research Institute had pursued