Chapter 109 – Carrying a Pig and Running?
Robin searched the forest alone.
Ten minutes later, he finally discovered hoofprints in a patch of mud.
"This shape… this stride…"
"It's definitely a pig."
"Judging by the direction… it ran northeast."
Just then—
"Snort snort… grrrk grrrk~"
"Snort grrrk snort grrrk~"
Robin froze.
"Huh? That sound…?"
Frowning, he turned back toward the path he had come from.
That couldn't be right…
The pig had clearly run northeast. Why was the squealing coming from the opposite direction?
"Did I hear wrong?"
He shook his head and continued deeper into the northeastern woods.
But after barely a dozen steps—
"Snort snort… grrrk grrrk~"
He stopped again.
"…No. That's definitely a pig."
"Did I miss it on my way here?"
Robin turned around immediately, ears sharpened, following the sound carefully.
The squealing grew louder.
His nerves tightened.
Ahead, a large patch of tall grass shook suspiciously.
"Snort… grrrk grrrk~"
That was it.
The pig was definitely hiding inside.
Robin quietly pulled a large net from his storage pouch. Light on his feet, he crept closer…
—WHOOSH!
He hurled the net with full force, instantly covering the entire patch of grass!
Then he began pulling the rope with all his strength.
The pig's lazy "snort snort" suddenly turned into a shrill, frantic scream—
"AAAAHHHHHH!!!"
A slow, confident smirk spread across Robin's face.
"Still struggling?"
"Too bad. How could a mere animal possibly compare to me, Robin?"
He gritted his teeth and gave one final, powerful yank.
"Let's finish this!"
—SWISH!
(...)
In the instant the net tightened—
Pig-nosed Frieren and Robin locked eyes.
Both of them froze.
Especially Robin.
Because inside the net, sprawled face-down, covered in leaves and grass—
Was Frieren.
Wearing a pig snout.
Robin genuinely couldn't process what he was seeing.
But he did notice Frieren's face beginning to tremble… slowly twisting into something dangerous.
—Ptoo!
—Slice!
Frieren spat out the grass in her mouth and cut the net apart with a clean flash of slicing magic.
The next second, she pointed at Robin's nose and began furiously shouting—
"Snort grrrk?!"
"Grrrk snort snort grrrk?!"
"Snort grrrk snort grrrk snort! Grrr snort snort snort! Grrrk!!"
Robin: (…?)
"Um… I'm really sorry."
"But understanding pig language is, unfortunately, a bit beyond me."
Frieren: (!!!)
She silently tore off the pig snout device.
Then pointed at him again.
"Are you insane?!"
"Why did you net me?!"
"You little brat, was that on purpose?! You'd better explain yourself right now, or I swear I'm not letting this go!"
Robin blinked.
"So that's what you were saying."
"What an amazing magic tool. I could almost guess the meaning just from the tone of your pig squeals."
"By the way, Frieren—who told you to hide in a bush and pretend to be a pig? Wait…"
His pupils suddenly shrank.
"…Don't tell me."
"Frieren… are you still upset about me helping with the pumpkin job?"
"So you came here on purpose to mess with me? Pretending to be a pig just to waste my time?!"
"Don't slander me!"
Frieren shouted indignantly.
"What do you mean 'messing with you'? I'm competing with you fairly!"
"Is that so?"
Robin glanced at the pig snout in her hand.
"So you were planning to use that tool to imitate pig sounds and lure it out?"
"It's not just imitation!"
"It uses magic to—ugh, forget it!"
She turned away irritably and walked past him.
"A barbarian with zero mana like you wouldn't understand even if I explained it!"
She marched forward haughtily.
Robin followed.
"Hey, Frieren."
"Want to team up?"
"If you keep squealing like a pig, I'm definitely going to net you again."
"No!"
She didn't even look at him.
"Robin, do you think I don't know what you're thinking?"
"If we find the pig together, you'll just throw it over your shoulder and run back to the village!"
"And then you'll tell everyone it was all your achievement!"
"Carry the pig and run?"
Robin's lips twitched.
So that's what he'd become in the white-haired elf's imagination?
Some kind of shameless scoundrel?
"Fine, Frieren."
"I'll take that as praise—that I'm strong enough to carry a whole pig."
"Since you refuse, we'll split up and search separately."
He vanished into the forest.
Frieren didn't relax.
"A mana-less existence is such a pain… I can't even sense where he is."
"What if I find the pig and he suddenly ambushes me?"
"…Ugh. One step at a time."
She put the pig snout back on and resumed her "snort snort" search.
Ten minutes later—
Rustle!
A large net suddenly dropped over her from above.
…Are you serious?
Robin landed nearby, looking apologetic.
"Ah, sorry about that."
"I told you, those pig noises are misleading."
"See? I netted you again by accident."
Frieren said nothing.
She sliced the net open and continued forward.
Ten more minutes passed.
—WHOOSH!
Another net fell.
Her eyelid twitched.
Robin appeared again.
"Oops! My bad, my bad!"
"I told you to stop squealing! Maybe you should try searching in a different direction?"
This time, she clearly saw the corner of his mouth twitching.
He was enjoying this.
She took a deep breath, suppressing her irritation, and removed the pig snout.
"Robin. I've taken it off. If you dare—"
—WHOOSH!
Ten minutes later.
A familiar net snapped shut again.
Except this time it yanked upward from the ground, hoisting her into the air and suspending her from a tree.
Frieren hung there silently.
Robin scratched the back of his head and jogged out from behind the trunk.
"Really sorry!"
"I just saw a flash of white and mistook you for the pig!"
"Frieren, if you dyed your hair back to green like when we first met, you'd be easier to identify."
"Nice excuse."
She replied flatly.
"By the way, the green was dye. The white is my real hair."
Robin nodded thoughtfully.
"I see."
"In that case, Frieren… let's just search together."
She looked down at him coldly.
"Still not giving up?"
"By the way… how many nets do you even have left?"
Robin rummaged through his storage pouch.
"Hmm. A hundred or so?"