Pampering Discarded Heroines Triggers My 10,000x Rebate System

The Grand Citadel Chamber was silent as all eyes were fixed on the central marble podium where Evren and Amber stood side by side, completely calm.

Up at the high tribunal bench, Elder Brandon Caldwell leaned forward, his hawkish eyes narrowing as he tapped a stack of documents.

”Under National Awakener Code Section Fourteen,” Elder Caldwell began, ”any private entity engaging an unregistered S-Rank anomaly must immediately surrender all combat telemetry, artifact specifications, and rift cores to the High Council for public safety assessment.”

Caldwell paused, looking down with a condescending sneer.

”Your newly formed guild, Apex, cleared the Sector Four rift in under two hours with just two hunters. That’s unheard of for a team that hasn’t been vetted. The Council has reasons to believe you used unregulated foreign artifacts or illicit dark catalysts to do it.”

Up in the private golden viewing galleries, the guildmasters of The Solar Crown, The Silverfang, and The Tempest Peak Guild looked down with smug smiles, nodding in agreement.

”Therefore,” Caldwell continued coldly, ”Apex must immediately transfer the S-Rank rift core to the High Council repository and submit to an administrative asset freeze pending a full investigative audit.”

Murmurs of agreement rippled through the tiered benches of council delegates.

Evren didn’t flinch; he didn’t even raise his voice. He simply turned his head toward Amber and gave her a small nod.

Amber stepped forward to the edge of the marble podium, tapped her encrypted tablet, and linked it directly to the chamber’s central holographic projector.

A massive, glowing blue projection flared to life in the center of the hall, displaying government files stamped with the golden seal of the Veridia Commerce and Emergency Bureau.

”Elder Caldwell,” Amber said in a clear, confident voice. ”Before you discuss administrative freezes, perhaps the Council should review the official records from that night.”

Amber swiped her finger across the screen.

”At twelve-fourteen that morning, Veridia’s emergency bureau declared a citywide Level-One crisis,” Amber said in a clear, confident voice. ”As the designated regional defense contractor, Prescott Guild was formally ordered to deploy to protect the civilian residential sectors.”

The projection shifted, displaying a high-resolution time-stamped video log alongside an official dispatch receipt.

”At twelve-twenty-two,” Amber continued, ”Prescott Guild redeployed their entire force strictly to protect their own private smelting foundries and crystal warehouses. They locked their iron gates, refused the city’s emergency dispatch, and abandoned over ten thousand trapped factory workers and families to the rift beasts.”

A sudden wave of uncomfortable muttering broke out across the lower council benches.

”Under Section Nine of the National Emergency Defense Act,” Amber stated, projecting Director Bennett Keller’s signed charter with his verified cryptographic seal, ”when a regional contractor abandons a Level-One crisis, any licensed emergency defense provider has full legal authority to engage and neutralize the threat.”

Amber locked her tablet and looked straight up at Caldwell.

”Apex Sovereign Conglomerate was granted that exact emergency charter by Director Bennett Keller. Every action taken in Sector Four was completely authorized under national law.”

Elder Caldwell’s face darkened into a shade of red. He gripped his gavel tightly, his knuckles turning white.

”Director Keller’s local authorization does not override the High Council’s oversight!” Caldwell snapped. ”Two people taking down an S-Rank boss violates standard combat safety protocols! You were reckless, and the Council demands full inspection of your equipment!”

Evren took a single step forward, stepping in front of the podium microphone.

”Safety protocols?” Evren’s voice cut through Caldwell’s shouting like a blade. ”While your designated contractor hid behind locked gates, Amber and I cleared fifty-five levels of an S-Rank rift and saved fifteen thousand lives with zero civilian casualties.”

Evren’s eyes swept across the gallery of sneering Capital guildmasters.

”If the High Council considers saving thousands of citizens without losing a single life to be a violation, then feel free to announce that to the national press outside these doors.”

The entire four-story chamber fell dead silent.

Not a single council delegate dared to speak. The media scribes in the press box were typing furiously on their terminals.

Up in the gallery, a burly guild enforcer from the Silverfang Guild stood up, enraged by Evren’s blatant disregard for their authority.

”Insolent provincial upstart!” the enforcer roared, releasing a wave of A-Rank mana pressure straight down toward the central podium.

The air around the podium bent under the weight of the mana aura.

Evren felt it immediately and simply shifted his right foot forward half an inch and released a fraction of his own raw S-Rank aura.

BOOM!

A silent shockwave exploded outward from Evren’s body.

The enforcer’s A-Rank mana pressure shattered instantly like glass. The violent backlash slammed the Silverfang enforcer backward into his seat, knocking the wind completely out of his lungs and leaving him gasping for air.

The rest of the guildmasters in the gallery froze in shock, their smug smiles instantly vanishing.

Elder Caldwell opened his mouth to shout for the citadel guards, his hands shaking with fury.

But before he could, a deafening alarm siren tore through the chamber.

The glowing blue light of the vaulted dome instantly turned red as emergency warning beacons flashed across every wall.

The central holographic projection vanished, replaced by a flashing emergency bulletin from the Imperial Capital Defense Grid:

[CRITICAL DEFENSE ALERT: LEVEL-C DIMENSIONAL RIFT BREACH DETECTED!]

[LOCATION: DISTRICT 7 — LOWER INDUSTRIAL ZONE]

[ANOMALY TYPE: UNSTABLE SURFACE RIFT]

[STATUS: EMERGENCY SQUADS DISPATCHING]

The chamber instantly erupted into chaos. Delegates scrambled to their feet, and guild liaisons began frantically barking orders into their comms.

Elder Caldwell banged his gavel furiously against the desk. ”Order! Order in the chamber!”

Caldwell glared down at Evren, breathing heavily as he tried to regain control of the situation.

”This inquiry is temporarily suspended!” Caldwell shouted over the blaring sirens. ”Chairman Crawford... Apex has zero jurisdiction within the Imperial Capital! Return to your hotel immediately and do not interfere with the Capital’s defense operations.”

Evren looked up at the flustered Elder with a calm, indifferent expression.

At that exact second, a familiar golden flash ignited directly in front of Evren’s retinas, accompanied by a resonant system chime:

[DING!]

[ANOMALOUS DIMENSIONAL RIFT DETECTED: DISTRICT 7 BREACH!]

[DETECTED ESSENTIAL ALCHEMICAL CATALYST: SHADOW-MIST CORE!]

[NOTE: 1 OF 3 REQUIRED CATALYSTS FOR ZEPHYRA NIGHTSHADE’S STAGE 2 PURIFICATION ELIXIR!]

Evren closed his eyes for a split second, a cold smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

The High Council wanted him to stay put.

He was going to District Seven.