Chapitre 1646: -1627- Mine?
"I don't agree with this!"
When this voice reached Rozen and Leafa's ears, both of them froze simultaneously.
Especially Leafa.
"This voice is..."
It was as if Leafa instantly recognized the person. Her cheerful expression dropped, replaced with a look of blatant irritation—her face practically screamed her annoyance.
Rozen, on the other hand, was curious, so he turned his head toward the source of the voice.
And then, he saw it.
"Le... Leafa! I'm here!"
Shouting these words, a boy approached from the distance.
He had a short, thin build with a yellowish-green, kappa-like hairstyle. He gave off the vibe of an otaku—someone who seemed rather unremarkable and lacked any sort of charisma.
The boy, gasping for breath, flew toward them from afar, clutching an auxiliary joystick. His flight was so unsteady it made people worry if he might fall out of the sky at any moment.
And indeed, that's exactly what happened.
"Whoa!"
As the boy reached Rozen and Leafa, he suddenly plummeted from the sky with a yelp and crashed onto the ground.
"Thud!"
With a loud thump, the boy face-planted into the dirt, his legs pointing upward as he skidded across the ground, scraping his face along the surface until he stopped right in front of Rozen and Leafa.
"Uh..."
Rozen's mouth twitched involuntarily.
"What kind of entrance was that?"
Leafa looked at the boy with a face that screamed she wanted to leave right away.
Even the passing Sylphs nearby witnessed the scene. They first gasped in shock and then burst into amused giggles.
"Ugh..."
The boy clutched his face, wobbling as he stood up, his eyes glistening with tears. His drooping ears made his already small stature seem even smaller, giving him an oddly comedic appearance.
Rozen couldn't help but chuckle.
"Is this your friend?" he teased Leafa with a grin.
Leafa felt utterly embarrassed.
The fact that something like this had happened in front of Rozen made her feel an indescribable sense of shame.
Annoyed, she glared at the boy.
"What are you doing here, Rekon?" she demanded irritably.
Judging by the way she spoke to him, it seemed they knew each other well.
The boy named Rekon glanced between Leafa and Rozen, and his expression noticeably shifted.
When he looked at Leafa, he seemed reassured. But when his gaze fell on Rozen, a flicker of hostility appeared in his eyes.
Then...
"I... I heard people talking after I logged in," Rekon explained nervously. "They said you've been getting really close with some new player, so I..."
His words only made Leafa more annoyed.
"So what?" Leafa glared at him with increasing sharpness. "What's the problem even if that's true?"
"Of course there's a problem!" Rekon blurted without thinking. "Leafa is mine! No one else can have you!"
His words echoed through the area like a bomb going off.
"Leafa... is yours?"
Rozen raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"You, you, you... What are you saying!?"
Leafa's eyes widened as she yelled, her voice a mix of embarrassment and anger.
It wasn't that Rekon had hit a nerve—it was more that she was terrified Rozen might believe what he said.
But Rekon, clueless as ever, remained oblivious.
"I'm not lying! Leafa really is mine—"
"Thud!"
Before he could finish his declaration, Leafa's right straight punch connected squarely with Rekon's stomach, launching him into the air. He flew backward and crashed into a nearby pavilion pillar before sliding down to the ground.
Only then did Leafa turn back toward Rozen.
"It's... it's not what you think! Nii... Rozen!"
Leafa stammered as she tried to explain.
"This guy, Rekon, is just my tagalong in the game! He doesn't mean anything to me!"
She frantically defended herself.
Rozen didn't have time to say anything before Rekon's sobbing voice reached them again.
"That's too harsh, Leafa..."
Rekon sniffled as he stood up unsteadily, tears in his eyes. "We know each other in real life too, remember? We even started playing ALO together..."
If that was true, it explained why Leafa treated him so bluntly and why Rekon acted so protective of her.
It was obvious that Rekon had feelings for Leafa, though it seemed she didn't feel the same way.
"Shut up!"
Leafa scolded him harshly. "You've been playing for a whole year, just like me, and you still can't overcome your flying nausea. You even rely on the auxiliary joystick because you can't handle free-flight mode. If we didn't know each other in real life, I would've told you to quit a long time ago! And now you're making things awkward in front of my bro—my new friend! Seriously, you—"
Leafa's anger seemed to have reached its peak, causing Rekon to shrink back in fear.
It wasn't that he hadn't caused trouble for her before. He often did similar things, and Leafa had always disciplined him without hesitation. But today, her frustration and urgency were different, showing just how much she cared about Rozen's opinion and didn't want him to misunderstand.
This only heightened Rekon's sense of crisis. His hostile gaze toward Rozen intensified, as if he were an underdog guarding his goddess from a rich and handsome rival. It was both pitiful and amusing.
From their interaction, Rozen got a fairly good grasp of the situation.
If Leafa were just some random girl he didn't care about, Rozen might've found the scene amusing and stayed on the sidelines to enjoy the show.
However...
(So this guy has his eye on Leafa, huh?)
There was no way Rozen could let that slide.
After all, this girl had only recently started showing her cute side, and Rozen hadn't even had the chance to fully enjoy it. How could he let some nobody snatch her away?
With that thought...
"I don't know what's going on, but can I say something?" Rozen said with a smile, turning to Rekon.
The next moment...
"Leafa isn't yours. She's mine. Remember that."
His declaration silenced the entire area.
"You...!?"
Rekon stood there, stunned, before assuming a defensive stance as if facing his worst enemy.
Meanwhile...
"~~~~~~~~~~"
Leafa's eyes widened in disbelief, her face turning bright red.
Rozen smiled playfully and continued speaking.
"If you think you can take her..."
He beckoned to Rekon with his finger.
"You'll have to get through me first."
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone