She said that even without the artifacts she wouldn’t be f rank
I keep thinking that the cat is secret, even took her name, so it wouldn't be farfetched to think that it might be hiding her real rank
Just guessing but I think it could be because the cat took her identity and that basically ‘resets’ her status/experience? Like, maybe she needs to start over because she's now with a new name & identity. It just seems sus how the contract needs the cat to take her name so I figured maybe that's an important plot point.
About the rank evaluation, i guess they evaluate the actual power, not with artifacts. So if she took those out, her power would be equivalent to a F rank. Maybe it's that but i really hope it's not, since it wouldn't make any sense looking by what she had to pass through before she obtained the final item. If we think about it, those artifacts should be just an extra. I don't know if that's the way the author found to nerf her but if it is, it still wouldn't make any sense. (￣へ￣）