>He's helpful to society. Which is one of the criteria to rank up.

You are misunderstanding my contention here. If the guild doesn't rank Goblins that high on the threat index. And you are given commendations based on the threats you take down. Why should 5 years of goblin slaying earn him the same rank as people who have spent maybe an equivalent amount of time hunting things that have a higher ranking on the threat index?If it's just the quantity of jobs completed then any long-term adventurer will eventually cap out at silver rank which is a very high and prestigious position when you consider that Gold and Platinum are the next ranks and they don't answer to the guild.If it's Qualitative, than the Drow is more likely correct and GS's overall combat ability is closer to Ruby/Emerald because we know that GS has lost every physical fight between himself and a higher ranking goblin without the use of potent magical spells or direct outside intervention.The qualitative method makes sense as we see what other silver adventurers are capable of like Bisecting a goblin champion in half with a single swing (yes !Guts needed help to not get crushed but the feat is what we're focusing on here).Really I'm just spinning my wheels here. Like I said, I have always been put-off by how high GS sits on the rankings from a narrative standpoint. It would have made more sense for him to be lower ranking at the start of the story despite his expertise to reflect how the world at large undervalues the threat he goes up against.