Was it a trap from the very beginning?

They must have already known about our relationship with Shahzad…

(But if it was a trap, the way we met was way too sloppy…)

She suddenly grabbed my arm and sniffed me.

I couldn’t imagine that being part of a well-thought-out plan.

But maybe that’s exactly why we followed her this far.

If our meeting had been more natural, more carefully staged, we would have been much more cautious.

(Was Riya’s seemingly straightforward attitude all just an act…?)

Realizing how shocked I was, I became aware that I actually liked Riya.

Thinking about it, the whole thing was strange.

We just met, and yet she wanted to celebrate Nadia's birthday together.

There had to be something behind it.

(But after coming this far, it’s too late to turn back… Ah, my Bangladeshi blood that can’t say "no" is acting up again…)

While I was panicking, Nadia stepped forward without hesitation.

"Wait, Nadia. This place…"

"I know. But isn’t this perfect? They’re inviting us straight into the tiger’s den."

Nadia casually said, "Excuse us," and followed Riya onto the premises.

(…So cool.)

Then all I had to do was trust my friend and follow along.

The UD base was a concrete building.

Its exterior was extremely plain.

It looked like the kind of boxy structure a beginner in Minecraft would build.

But that was probably intentional, to keep people from guessing its internal structure.

In fact, I couldn’t even tell how many floors it had.

I had just decided to trust my friend, but I was starting to feel uneasy again.

I whispered to Nadia.

"Nadia, are you really sure this is okay?"

"Yeah. If anything happens, my brother will come save us!"

"…Huh?"

"If I get captured, he’ll desperately run around trying to rescue me… Hehe."

"……"

Ah, this was that.

Her usual thing.

I didn’t expect her to flip her switch into airhead mode at a time like this…

(I should’ve just gone home…)

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

But it was too late now.

We had already stepped inside the building.

The interior was unexpectedly elegant, completely different from the rugged exterior.

That rough look was definitely intentional.

I felt like we weren’t just stepping into a tiger’s den, but into the tiger’s jaws.

We were led into the living room.

A building of this scale, being a guild’s base, surely had a reception room.

Yet we were brought to such a private space…

I wasn’t sure how to interpret that.

(It’s starting to feel like everything has some hidden meaning…)

Nadia and I sat side by side on a two-seater sofa.

Across the low table, there was another identical leather sofa.

"Have you two had lunch yet?"

Riya asked.

"Not yet."

"Then let’s order something. Anything you can’t eat?"

"Not really."

"Got it. I’ll just order something random."

"Thanks. I was starting to get hungry."

Nadia answered normally, but I was in no mood to eat.

My stomach was too tense with nerves.

Riya left the room briefly to place the order.

I wanted to use that moment to discuss things with Nadia, but she came back almost immediately.

She must have left the ordering to some staff member.

Then, instead of sitting on the opposite sofa, Riya sat down next to me.

"…Huh?"

"What?"

"Um, there’s a sofa right there…"

"Eh, this is fine, isn’t it?"

Fine…?

This was a two-seater sofa.

There was no way three people could sit on it comfortably.

"Oh, then I’ll move over there…"

As if being pushed out, Nadia moved to the opposite sofa.

"Hehe."

For some reason, Riya looked pleased.

(I really can’t tell what she’s thinking…)

About twenty minutes later, the food arrived.

"What’s with this amount…?"

The low table was completely covered with food.

It was like a Nobabi Bhoj, the Royal Feast of Bengal.

"It’s Nadia’s birthday today, right? Gotta celebrate."

"Well, yeah…"

"Alright, let’s eat."

Riya reached for the food but suddenly remembered something and clapped her hands together.

"Let’s eat!"

Nadia and I followed her lead.

Both Nadia and I eat more than the average person.

Riya, on the other hand, was an unbelievable glutton, stuffing food into her slim body without hesitation.

But no matter how much we ate, more dishes kept arriving one after another.

It was physically and mentally exhausting.

By the time we finished about 70%, Nadia and I were at our limits.

Riya still seemed to have room for more, but she stopped eating at a perfect point, just the right amount before getting too full.

"I can’t eat anymore… I’ll throw up…"

"Me too…"

"You don’t have to force yourselves."

"I know, but… in Bangladesh, leaving food is not considered good manners."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah."

"Then I guess we can’t leave any."

Riya rolled up her sleeves.

"What do they call this? Something like ‘go-go-go’?"

"When in Rome, do as the Romans do?"

"That’s it!"

Riya was trying to respect Bangladesh culture.

In that case, we had to respond in kind.

Even though our stomachs were already bursting, we forced more food down.

Our maxed-out blood sugar levels started glitching.

"…I’m getting sleepy."

"No, Keya! If you sleep, you’ll die!"

"Ahh, don’t shake me… This is a snowy mountain… A snowy mountain, I tell you…"

After an hour of struggle, we somehow managed to finish everything.

"…Anri, are you alive?"

"Dead."

"Same."

Even Riya seemed to be at her limit and collapsed onto me.

"Hey, Riya! Get off, I’m really gonna throw up!"

"Oh, I forgot about the cake. Should I order it now?"

"No way, no way, no way!"

"The cake’s already reserved. We’ll pick it up on the way back."

I refused with all my might.

Nadia stood up.

"Sitting down is pressing on my stomach…"

"Me too… I need to walk a bit."

"Oh, then why don’t we explore the house?"

Riya’s words reminded me that this was UD’s base.

"Is that okay?"

"Not really, but I’ll make an exception. It’s Nadia’s birthday, after all."

"That has nothing to do with it…"

In the struggle to eat, I had almost forgotten our goal, to learn about UD’s true purpose.

Riya’s suggestion was more than welcome.