CHAPTER 69: THE PATENT OFFICE

The breakfast was as lively as usual with Leon’s presence. Amber also relaxed in their company and began to join in their dramatic act just to have fun. It really amused her how these silly little things could actually make her happy.

After that, Evelyn busied herself with some of her work while Amber took Leon out for their errand. Their hovering car was still waiting for them since Amber never used it for herself.

Before they set off for their destination, Evelyn handed them a few boxes filled with delicious cakes, bread, and other products from her bakery.

Leon didn’t need her to say anything to understand, so after giving the boxes, she went back to the house.

Amber glanced at the boxes and asked, "Are they lunch for us?"

"What do you think?" Leon asked in return.

Amber remained silent.

"There’s an orphanage at the end of District 10, and Mom usually helps out there. These cakes are for those children," Leon said. "She’ll probably deliver more later on by herself too."

"Your mother is really sweet. Quite a sight in this world," Amber said with a small smile. "By the way, I’m also kind of an orphan... so can I take one?"

Leon just gave her a disappointed look before shoving the boxes onto the backseat. "Even I wouldn’t snatch food from orphans. How shameless are you?"

"As I said, I’m kinda orphan myself," Amber shrugged, leaving no room for argument.

The car passed through many streets and buildings before it stopped in front of a big mansion.

Amber raised an eyebrow upon seeing it. "Seems like the orphanage receives good donations."

"Mom gave it to them. She bought it because I once stared at a mansion for too long, so she thought I liked it," Leon sighed. "But it was too big for me, and I felt kind of lonely in it, so Mom later bought another house and gave this one to them."

Then, he went inside the orphanage and only came out after spending fifteen minutes there. He always felt close to those children, so he couldn’t just refuse them when they wanted to meet him so badly.

Once he settled back in the car, Amber noticed his subtle smile and said, "You really like them, huh."

"I used to spend my time here when Mom was busy," Leon replied.

Then, they left District 10 and headed towards the eastern front of the city. It was basically called the Government District because all the government offices were located there.

They passed through a checkpoint, which turned out to be very easy since Amber only needed a single glare to scare everyone off.

Leon really wanted to roll his eyes at her. She could have just shown her ID, which would automatically allow her to enter anywhere, yet she had to go and scare everyone off.

He could swear he saw the guards’ legs trembling.

Once they were inside the Government District, Amber took him to the farthest building from the entrance where there was almost no presence of people.

There were only two large buildings, both made out of a special material from the Primordial Expanse. She parked the car casually to the side and brought him inside one of those crystal buildings.

Leon ignored the bright lights and followed her into an office room. He found five people already there, sitting on comfortable sofas while discussing something.

The room’s atmosphere was serene, with a relaxing fragrance in the air and a beautiful contrast of blue and white lighting along the walls.

But Leon’s focus was still on the people seated there. Three of them were women and two were men. Both men wore white lab coats over their clothes, and one woman also seemed to share their profession.

All of them appeared to be in their thirties, but a woman with short brown hair and a stern face with a scar on her cheek looked younger than the rest. Her body was athletic, and unlike Amber’s sleek muscles, her physique was more pronounced and solid.

The last woman wore a cream-coloured jumpsuit with her black hair tied in a ponytail. She was also the centre of the conversation, leading everyone with her words.

Leon glanced at their name tags. The two men were Akash and Wei Xiao. The lady beside them was Alena. The warrior-like woman was named Elodie, and finally, the one who was the centre of attention was Minji.

Of course, Amber was different from him. She didn’t even care who was sitting inside and shouted the moment she stepped into the room.

"Yo, are you all ready to give the patent or not?"

All of them instantly stood up and silently decided to ignore her brazen behaviour. It wasn’t as if they were unfamiliar with Amber Frost.

Even if they hadn’t met her before, they were well aware of her reputation.

Since Minji was the one most familiar with Amber, she came forward and smiled. "Welcome, Ascended Amber. We were just waiting for your arrival."

"Hm, then you all came too early," Amber said before glancing at the other people in the room. Her eyes narrowed when she spotted the men. "Why the hell are they here?"

Akash’s lips twitched at her tone. "Professor Amber, you already stole my student. Now can you at least allow me to be present at his record-breaking achievement?"

Leon smiled wryly at him and said, "I’m sorry about that, Sir. I just wanted to follow a different path, so I chose the Combat Department."

Indeed, this amiable man was the Head of the Research Department at Starlink Academy. He had always supported Leon, nurturing him as his successor. Leon did feel guilty after choosing the Combat Department.

He had always wanted to apologise but never found the chance, so now that he met his teacher here, he decided to speak sincerely.

"I’m not mad about that, Leon. It’s your life, and you have the right to choose your future. What displeased me was the fact that you went to her instead of me for this matter," Akash said with quiet disappointment.

"I don’t think I need to explain the reason for that to someone as intelligent as you, right, Sir?" Leon smiled mysteriously at him.

"Forget it. What matters is that you actually created something like this," Akash said, letting it go. He wasn’t trying to make things difficult; he just wanted to voice his feelings.

He then turned towards Amber and sighed. "Also, can you please stop sending those piercing glares at me? I’m not stealing your student."

"As if you ever could," Amber snorted.

She had already fought this old man over Leon once, so she wouldn’t hesitate to fight again. And yes, in her eyes, he was already an old man.

"Then, I’ll do the introductions," Minji quickly interjected before the conversation turned sour. She introduced everyone and explained, "As you know, for a patent of this level, we need at least three B-Rank Alchemists. Since you called us on such short notice, we could only manage to gather whoever was available."

Amber’s eyes lingered on Wei Xiao, and she scoffed. "Why would someone from the Wei Clan personally come this far? How did you even get the news?"