11 Hidden Ranker?

After the Black Market, Lilith's first stop was the Hunter's Association branch, here in the city of Narc. The purpose was simple—to obtain her Hunter's License and to set up a meeting with a real estate agent using her Hunter privileges.

The walk took about fifteen minutes, and as expected, the place was—open.

'This is a little nerve-racking. It's my first time entering here for another purpose other than selling demon crystals.'

Upon entering the association branch, several eyes in the room were instantly attracted to Lilith. That was only natural given her incredible beauty and the attire she wore; they all assumed she was a daughter from a wealthy family—someone from an influential, powerful family filled with talented individuals.

Naturally, this meant no one dared approach Lilith. Powerful families were generally thought to be scary. After all, if crossed, they wouldn't show any mercy.

Due to the time of day, there weren't many people at the branch—most of them were out on hunts. Fortunately for her, it lessened her chances of confronting a C-rank hunter or higher; this also meant there was no need to wait in line, and she headed straight for an open receptionist.

"Good afternoon," the young brown-haired girl at the desk said softly, gently smiling. "How may I help you?"

"I'm here to acquire my Hunter's License," Lilith said, calmly.

"Before you can acquire your license, you'll need to provide some personal information and take a test to prove you've been contracted. I'll lead you to the testing room." The young receptionist left her post, leading Lilith away. Right before she passed another receptionist on break, she called out, "Ricky, can you take my post? Thanks!"

"What…? I'm on break…" Ricky spoke, pausing between each mouthful of cheese cake he ate off a paper plate. "You owe me another break!"

He yelled towards the distancing back of the young receptionist, who shook her head slightly in response.

~~~

Within minutes, they arrived at the door. The receptionist opened it and welcomed her in, taking a seat at the desk within the white room.

"Before taking the test to determine your rank, you'll need to fill this out…" she took out a set of papers from a shelf beneath the desk. "Once you've filled it out, you'll take a fixed test dependent on your contracted power."

"I see…" Lilith viewed the set of papers. It read personal information such as name, date of birth, contractor, etc.

She grabbed a pen from the pen jar on the desk and began filling out the papers quickly; she stopped as she reached the contractor. She couldn't jot down the name of her contractor, Ayin, as there was a possibility she would be found out as the contractee of a demon.

'What should I put down?'

[It'd be preferable to use an unknown goddess's name, so it wouldn't raise suspicion. Use Atta, the Goddess of Strength.] Ayin suggested.

Lilith jotted down Atta, the Goddess of Strength, as her contractor and continued filling without issues—she knew Ayin had no reason to act against her, so she didn't need time to consider her suggestion.

10 minutes passed, and Lilith had filled out the set of papers.

"Supernatural strength, huh? I'd thought you'd contract a higher-ranking contractor." The young receptionist sighed, "To test your physical strength. Please punch into the center of the drum-like machine."

Pressing a button beneath the table, the wall behind Lilith split apart, disappearing into the walls, revealing a hidden room. The room held a large drum machine. Lilith walked up to it and threw a punch with all her force.

Bang~! The drum vibrated, followed by a small screen displaying a digital number above the drum.

"Strength, 20! double the strength of a regular human! An overall rank of E!" She rambled on, "Your license will be completed in ten minutes!"

The ten minutes passed, and she acquired her Hunter's License.

[Name: Lilith

Age: 18

Rank: E

Contractor: Atta, the Goddess of Strength]

"Will that be all for you?"

"I'll like to use my hunter privileges to arrange a meeting with a real estate agent." Lilith stashed away her Hunter's License.

"I'll inform them right away!" The receptionist pulled a tablet out from under the desk and typed onto it; she informed the real estate agent and set up a meeting point at Western Park on the north side of the city.

After completing her purpose at the Hunter's Association, she headed towards the location of the meeting point.

When she arrived, she spotted a man seated on a bench—he had chestnut brown hair and was wearing a three-piece black suit. She didn't need to survey the park, as he stood out like a sore thumb.

"Are you the real estate agent the Hunter's Association recommended?" Lilith inquired as she approached the man.

"Indeed I am. I'm Reece." He held out his hand for a handshake, and Lilith complied and shook his hand.

"I'm Lilith."

"Miss Lilith, it's nice to meet you." Reece smiled. "Without delaying any further, what type of house are you looking for?"

He queried, letting go of her hand.

"I'm looking for a stand-alone house."

"A stand-alone house..." He knew those stand-alone houses were costly, but the cost was dependent on the location. "What part of the city is ideal for your future home?"

"I'd like it to be in a location that's close to the Hunter's Association, but in a place that doesn't stand out."

She desired to live close to the Hunter's Association, as it'd allow easier travel from her house to the association and for it to be in a secluded area where it wouldn't stand out, which would further conceal her identity.

"What is the price you're looking for?"

"Between 10 and 15 million."

Reece's eyes widened; he knew Lilith wasn't penniless judging by the quality of her attire, but he assumed she'd have thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands—this was all based off of her not having a surname.

'Is she scheming something? There's no way she would have the finances that an A-ranker would have! She must be. I'll prove you don't have the capital to pay.'

It wasn't much of a surprise for him to assume this. After all, if she were an A-Ranker, she'd have a surname; he could also assume she was kicked out of a powerful family, explaining why she had no surname.

"Very well, then, I do have the perfect house for you." Hidden under Reece's professional smile, he hid his intentions of putting her in her place for not having sufficient funds.

The two of them set off from the park and called for a taxi to drive them to the location of the property.

~~~

"You're in luck! This home opened a week ago. The previous owner was a hunter that recently moved to another city." He stepped out of the taxi, gentlemanly offering his hand to Liltih.

Lilith took his hand and stepped out of the taxi; however, in doing so, she felt an odd feeling as if she had lost something crucial to her.

The stand-alone house stood at 1500 square feet and had a moderately sized yard. The white painted siding gave it an ordinary look, which fit with her preference for not standing out.

Reece led the way into the house. They walked through the small, narrow corridor that led to the living room, which was filled with furniture and other appliances.

"Here's the kitchen and dining room." He led her to an arched doorway, which revealed a spacious kitchen and dining room. The kitchen was nice with marble countertops; however, she knew she wouldn't be using it often, especially with her food source being human flesh.

He led her around the remainder of the house, checking each room on the first floor before moving to the second floor, where several bedrooms were located, along with the master bedroom that was located at the back of the house.

"Lastly, here's the deck." Sliding open a sliding door, they walked onto a wooden deck. Several lawn chairs were placed across the deck, facing away from the house towards the beautiful lake not far from the house.

"So... what do you think about the property?" Reece inquired once the tour of the property was over.

"It fits all my needs and is spacious. What's the price?"

"The price of the property is 16 million dollars—this includes the agent fee." A smirk flashed across Reece's face. Though, when she pulled out a black card, she immediately altered his face to one of shock.

"I'll take it."

This black card symbolized that she was wealthy. He had no purpose in accusing her of not having enough capital. 'How does she have a black card? Could it be she's a hidden A-ranker?'

That thought alone sowed a sense of fear in his heart; hidden rankers were known for their cruelty and for not having any mercy if crossed—a similar case to the powerful families. They were someone who should never be offended.

A cold sweat emerged on his cheek—he was glad he hadn't offended her. "I-I've got the contract with me."

He pulled out the contract from his divine space artifact and handed it over to Lilith. She looked through the contents of the contract, and with Ayin's approval, she confirmed it to be good and signed the contract before she swiped the black card through the payment device, sealing the deal.

"Nice doing business with you." Reece shook her hand before leaving the premises. This left Lilith alone, staring off into the lake that reflected the sunset's beauty.

[You've sold the demon crystals and bought a house. I'll teach you the crucial fundamentals you need as a woman, a demon, and several other things.]