"Am I qualified to receive your highest rank?"
Nobody answered right away. The clerk's mouth opened and closed twice without producing sound, ink-stained fingers still frozen mid-reach for the intake form he'd never get to use.
BANG!
The heavy double doors at the back of the hall banged open.
A man stepped through — fifties, maybe older, silver threading through a neatly kept beard, the kind of build that suggested decades of real fighting rather than desk work despite the fine embroidered coat he wore over it.
Hunter insignia gleamed on his lapel, more elaborate than anything I'd seen before.
His eyes found me instantly.
I tried to put pressure on him, but his aura met mine head-on. Then again, I was holding back a lot, so it wasn't much of a surprise. Still, there was no doubt that this guy was at least Peak S-Rank.
"Everyone, calm down" He stopped a respectful distance away from me and inclined his head.
