Riya is giving me a tour of the base.

"This is the kitchen. This is the dining hall. This is the guest room. This is the training room. This is the bathroom. This is the shower room. This is the torture room. This is the storage room. This is the studio. This is the archive room. This is the safe room. This is the nap room. This is the experiment room. This is the staff room. This is the meeting room. This is..."

(...I feel like I just saw something I wasn't supposed to...)

While showing me around, Riya stuck close to me.

At first, I thought she just had a small personal space, but she didn’t cling to Nadia like this.

If anything, she seemed to keep her distance from her.

"Keya, isn't it like Riya really likes you?"

"You think so too? I wonder why."

"On the other hand, I feel like she kind of dislikes me..."

"I don't think she hates you, though..."

She made an effort to celebrate Nadia's birthday in her own way.

And she talked to her normally.

Yet, there was still a physical distance.

(...Or maybe it's the opposite? Maybe it's just that her sense of distance with me is weird.)

We only met a few hours ago, but the way she clings feels like a couple who just started dating.

(...And the weird thing is, I don’t really mind.)

At the end of the corridor, there was even an outdoor pool.

"Wow, this is amazing."

"Since we're here, want to swim? Good exercise after eating."

"But I didn’t bring a swimsuit."

"It’s just us girls, no need to worry."

Before I could react, Riya stripped completely and jumped into the pool.

"What are you doing? You two should come in. Feels great!"

She’s right, it's just us girls here.

And there’s a wall around the pool, so no one can see in.

But...

There’s another reason I can’t just strip and join in.

"... Wow Riya. Are all foreigners like that?" Nadia said, staring at Riya's body...

Her body was on a whole different level.

Her bone structure itself was different.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Even after eating so much, her stomach remained flat.

Her rock-solid abs were keeping everything in check.

Nadia gulped.

"That's an S-rank adventurer for you..."

"Rank has nothing to do with it."

This time, it was my turn to step in.

Nadia shot me a sharp glare.

"Keya, you're acting all smug just because you have a good figure."

"That’s not it."

"Hmph. I’ll grow up to be like that too!"

"Uh… no, I mean…"

"What? You don’t know that."

"It’s not that… Riya is younger than you."

"...Huh?"

"I think she’s only fourteen or something."

That’s why she’s the youngest S-rank adventurer.

Nadia stared blankly at Riya, who was happily floating on her back.

Two large floating islands.

"Um… Riya?"

"Hm? What is it?"

"Are you really fourteen?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"'Think so'?"

"I was raised by wolves when I was little, so I’m not exactly sure. But it should be around that."

Raised by wolves?

That sounded ridiculous, but Riya wasn’t joking.

"But my birthday is January 22nd. That’s for sure!"

"Why’s that?"

"Because that’s the day I met Shahzad."

Riya grinned, showing her teeth.

"Ah..."

"What is it, Nadia?"

"Now that I think about it, my brother used to say something like that... about rescuing a girl who was raised by wolves. I thought he was just hallucinating from eating weird mushrooms again, so I ignored it..."

So, Riya was telling the truth?

"Shahzad even gave me my name."

Riya looked proud.

"…Wait, does he even know the meaning of this name?"

"… I don't know, and if it's from Shahzad, it's best even if it's the worst!"

"Oh, you'd definitely not wanna know what that means...." Nadia muttered while keeping up a wry smile in front of Riya.

"Hey Nadia, your brother hated his own name, Shahzad Noor Arthur, right?" Keya asked.

"Yeah."

"And yet, he gave a foreigner a straight-up Bangladeshi name." Keya sighed.

"...Sorry." Nadia instinctively apologized to Riya.

"Why are you apologizing?"

"Seriously, my brother..."

"So bad naming sense runs in this family. I haven’t met their parents yet. They travel around the world, so even Nadia and her brother rarely see them. Now I’m even more curious about what kind of people they are." Keya muttered.

(So Riya was telling the truth after all...)

"Hey! What are you two doing? Come swim!"

She has no idea how much damage her body does to a girl’s self-esteem.

But Riya looked so genuinely happy swimming.

If we were wearing skirts, it’d be easier, but both Nadia and I had pants on.

Since Riya was already completely naked without shame, our sense of embarrassment started to lower as well.

We took off our pants and sat on the poolside.

The warm water felt nice on my feet.

After a while, we decided to go back inside.

"Wait, Riya! You can’t just go inside soaking wet!"

"Oh, but I don’t have a towel."

"I’ll get one!"

My feet were wet too, but Riya was completely drenched, even her hair.

I tried to shake off as much water as I could and headed to the washroom for a towel.

(This is the UD base… and I’m walking around alone...)

And worse, I wasn’t wearing my pants.

Thanks to my oversized shirt, my underwear was covered, but I looked like one of those k-drama girls wearing a boyfriend’s shirt to look cute.

(Let’s not think about it...)

I threw a towel over Riya, who was waiting completely naked in the corridor, and started drying her off.

She let me do it without complaint.

(She’s like a big dog… Maybe it’s because I know about her past now.)

Suddenly, Riya hugged me.

"Whoa!? Riya, wait—"

She had always been clingy, but getting hugged by a naked girl was too much.

"Hey, what are you—"

"Hehehe."

Riya took a deep breath and smiled happily.

That’s when I understood.

Riya had no ulterior motives.

She wasn’t trying to trick us or take advantage of us.

We were just overthinking things.

(This girl… she just misses big brother Shahzad’s scent.)

My chest tightened.

I suddenly felt an overwhelming affection for her.

"Hey, Riya."

"Hm? What?"

"Do you… want to see Shahzad?"

"Of course! I’d love to—"

She stopped mid-sentence.

"…Huh? What’s wrong, Riya?"

"…I don’t want to see him."

"What!? Why not!?"

"…I don’t know. Why?"

"How am I supposed to know?"

This was a problem.

If Riya had said she wanted to see Shahzad, I would have told her the truth and taken her home.

Now that Nadia knew about her past, she wouldn’t also oppose it.

Even though she’s obsessed with her brother, Nadia has some common sense… probably.

…Hopefully.

I want to believe in my friend.

But since Riya herself said she didn’t want to see him, there wasn’t much we could do.