Robert Pendragon was a B-Ranked Hunter from the Eternal Horizon. Not too strong, not too weak. But even so, he was well-respected for being a man in his 40s who had obtained decades of experience being a Hunter.
His overall abilities were fairly lackluster. His skill was simply [Focus] which let him stick to a designated task without any distractions.
And it was a skill that had served him well in his career as a Hunter.
Thus, as a veteran who would also be on constant guard, he was the perfect assignee as a mentor for the young lady, Yura Shin, on her second Gate Expedition.
It was a simple Gate. For extra caution and safety, the guild had chosen a Rank D Gate this time. Something that couldn't possibly have anything wrong occur.
With him as a B-Ranked Hunter with multitudes of experience, Yura as an S-Ranked Hunter with raw power, and a few other support staff, it would have been simple. And it was simple.
But there was an unpredictable factor that showed up last minute...
"Huh." Neol walked around the open grassy fields of the Gate and said, "So this is a Gate. It really is just another world, isn't it? I always thought it was kinda like a VR field, but this is definitely the real thing. Physics are the same too, albeit with denser mana."
...That factor being Lady Yura's beloved.
Robert's eye twitched and he said, "Mister Neol. It's quite dangerous wandering around like that in an unknown Gate, even if you ARE an S-Ranked Hunter."
...A fact that Robert doubted.
There had been rumors, yes. And there were official reports.
But Robert knew those reports could be forged. Documents could be bought.
And considering that the young man was supposedly Lady Yura's beau, Robert thought it more likely than not that he was just a shoe in. Especially at the complete lack of caution he had.
A white dress shirt, a black laptop bag, slacks, and pennyloafers. Not a single bit of armor or even a weapons.
Going into a Gate like that...
Robert wondered if the young man was suicidal. That, or he had THAT much faith in Lady Yura.
"Hm..." Neol pulled out a laptop from his bag and said, "I'll need to write this setting. It should be a good backdrop for my latest one-shots."
Yura sighed, placing her armored hand on her face. For the Gate Expedition, she had changed back into her dragon mail and obtained a new sword from her Grandfather.
All things considered, she should have looked like a formidable warrior.
...But as things stood, Robert couldn't help but see her as a young newlywed wife being embarrassed by her husband's nonchalant actions.
Yura lowered her hand and said, "Could you PLEASE take this seriously, Neol?"
"Hm? Oh, I told you, Love. Ignore me. I'm just here to spend time with you."
"...And I appreciate it. But it IS a Gate. We don't know what- Look out!" Yura called out, drawing her blade.
Robert's eyes widened.
'Focus didn't work?!'
The situation had been so outlandish that his concentration had slipped.
Because of that, he missed it.
An emerald snake, lashing out from the grass to bite Neol's neck.
It was too fast.
And since Neol had wandered far out, no one could reach him in time.
"NEOL!" Yura called out in panic, swinging her hands to send out a blast of lightning.
Or she intended to.
But before she could do so... before anyone could react, the emerald snake bit Neol...
And then exploded.
Everyone froze.
Yura blinked.
Neol coughed. "Ah. So..." He rubbed the back of his neck. "...Guess I AM an S-Ranked Hunter, huh? What's the physics behind it again... Ah, right. Super dense mana particles and what not." He shrugged. "Snake underestimated its food."
An awkward silence filled the air.
And then Yura burst out laughing. "Of course...! Only you would do something this ridiculous, Neol. A snake bites you and the snake dies instead... what are you, Chuck Norris?"
"Aaaay, you know about him? I like to think I'm more Bruce Lee, Love, but I respect Chuck Norris. A shame that he finally got bored of this world and went to heaven to spar with Bruce Lee."
"...What?"
Robert Pendragon stared up at the foreign skies of the Gate and closed his eyes.
'Any deity that might be listening... have mercy on my soul.'
Because he could already tell. This Gate Expedition was going to test the very limits of his [Focus] skill AND his patience...
===
After the snake incident, Yura and her party members decided I was in absolutely zero danger, so they went back to focusing on the task at hand.
I just took the time to walk behind them, idly typing on my laptop held up with my handydandy makeshift rig.
That is to say, duct tape, some branches, and a flat piece of stone.
Yura's mentor for this expedition, a serious looking white guy named Robert Pendragon, with dark brown hair and green eyes. He looked at me and said, "...Did you seriously make that with scraps?"
"Hm?" I glanced over and said, "The laptop? Of course not."
"No, the rig."
"Ah. Well, what does it look like?" I shrugged. "I miscalculated, so I had to adapt. I thought we'd have a lot of downtime, but we don't. So I have to type as we walk."
Robert furrowed his brow. "I get that. But-"
"Encounter!"
A scout up ahead called out.
"I've got it!" Yura answered and moved to take the front. "Everyone, into formation!"
Robert sighed and said, "We'll talk later. You just... do you." After saying that, he ran up to join Yura and the others.
I watched them battle a small group of wolves, Yura calling the shots while Robert took careful note of her actions. Likely to give her feedback afterwards.
"Hm... Pretty engaging."
I opened up a word document to take my own notes on it. Mostly to record it for posterity and reference for my own works.
But as I started writing, I felt something watching me.
It didn't feel dangerous though, so I just kept writing.
And then I saw it.
A flash of silver aimed at my neck.
"NEOL! WATCH-"
*CRACK*
"-OUT... Oh. Right." Yura sighed. "...Of course."
I blinked and looked down at the shattered spearhead. Then I looked back to see a kobold staring at me with blank eyes.
"...Seriously?"
The kobold swallowed.
I sighed and waved my hand. "I'm busy here. Go die somewhere else."
"...Ko?"
"Yes, you."
"...Bold?"
"Very bold of you, but no. I'm busy." I ignored it and went back to writing.
Let's see...
Gramps had commissioned me again. Apparently, he wanted a super raunchy NTR fic of some of the famous Hunters in the past century... and he'd even provided tons of reference materials.
...I mean, I had all sorts of questions about that and its legality. But he WAS the EX-Ranked Hunter who saved the world, so if anything went wrong, not my problem, right?