Where Are We Going?
We didn't answer. We just kept chewing our snacks in silence, staring at Jeong Bia.
Jeong Bia lifted her head and immediately began explaining.
"Ayeon was forced into an engagement even before she enrolled at the Academy."
We stayed quiet and kept listening. Jeong Bia slowly clenched her fist on her knee as she spoke.
"The condition to break the engagement was beating us in this tournament."
"You and that... fake tits? Was her name Dispenser?"
"......The original promise was that if she beat Spencer—the daughter of her fiancé's family—the engagement would be nullified."
Sudden rage flashed across Jeong Bia's face.
"But those bastards broke the promise first! They said they'd let Ayeon go!"
"So that's why you came to us for help."
"That's right."
To sum up the situation: Jung Ayeon had been forcibly engaged to a man from the family that Mama D. Spencer belonged to. Jung Ayeon had set the condition that beating Spencer would void the engagement, and she had actually won the tournament. So the engagement should have been canceled. But the other side ignored that and dragged Jung Ayeon away by force.
One question came to mind.
"Who the hell are these people? Why are they trying to force a marriage like it's the Stone Age?"
Exactly. In this day and age, trying to force someone into marriage usually gets you a shotgun to the skull.
[You're safe though! Nothing can kill you even if it smashes your skull!]
'Fuck off, you bitch.'
Jeong Bia smiled bitterly.
"They're renowned mages from another dimension."
"Magic my ass. The real mage here is our Hyeji."
Overwhelming destructive power could definitely be called magic. Therefore, a bunker buster was also magic (physical). Hye-ji suddenly perked up, jumping to her feet and shouting.
"It's magic, so no dodging allowed!"
"...How the hell do you dodge a bunker buster?"
Meanwhile, Jeong Bia clutched her head and spoke with surprising seriousness.
"If they just hold the wedding and take her back to their dimension, it'll be recognized as a real marriage."
"Hey, you bitch. Let me ask you one thing."
I instantly flipped the mood and growled at her.
"When you fought Jung Ayeon, didn't you say the engagement was fine?"
"......I did."
"And this is the result? You fucking idiot?"
"I didn't think they'd go this far! Plus they said it was a good family!"
"Not knowing is an excuse now, you piece of shit? When your own sister hated it that much?"
"......"
Jeong Bia lowered her head in shame. Jung Ayeon had clearly struggled desperately to break this engagement. And Jeong Bia had kept trying to crush that effort.
Anyway, this wasn't a part where I could keep pushing, so I wrapped it up moderately.
"You apologize to Jung Ayeon yourself later. If you don't, I'll kill you."
"......Understood."
Jeong Bia's mess was ultimately Jeong Bia's responsibility. Since there was nothing more to poke at, we returned to the main topic.
"So you want us to rescue Jung Ayeon before the wedding happens?"
"Yes."
Jeong Bia looked at us with tearful eyes and pleaded desperately.
"Please. If we don't do something, Ayeon will end up in a marriage she doesn't want."
"Hey, but she got flown away earlier. Do you even know where she is?"
"I know the location."
"Tell me."
Jeong Bia suddenly stopped talking. She hesitated for a moment before bringing up something slightly different from before.
"This might be sudden, but... do any of you know about succubi?"
Succubi. A type of female demon that seduces men, the very symbol of lust. These days they were a staple in fantasy novels and web novels.
I looked at Jeong Bia and answered calmly.
"Sounds hot as fuck?"
"......."
Jeong Bia's eyes went a little dead. The rest of the group each chimed in with their own opinions about succubi.
"Husband! If you stare at those bat bitches I'll kill you!"
"Big-titted fucking bitches."
"They are unholy demons, nya."
Jeong Bia's eyes grew even darker.
"Hey, so why are succubi coming up?"
"Ha..."
Jeong Bia let out a deep sigh and continued.
"This might be sudden, but both me and Ayeon are children of succubi."
"Oh, really?"
"......Why aren't any of you surprised?"
She had carefully prepared what she thought was a shocking revelation, but our lukewarm reaction left Jeong Bia the one who was shocked instead. But honestly, it wasn't that surprising.
"We've already got me and this furry here, so adding one succubus doesn't even register!"
"I'm a nekomimi, nya!"
"Shinwoo, at this point isn't the existence of those things the weird part?"
"......Please stop attacking the novel's identity."
Our party had already strayed far beyond the bounds of normal. A walking asymmetrical weapon. A coin-obsessed elf. A suspiciously rich cat bitch. No matter how you looked at it, we weren't normal.
[If we're being honest, you're the one who's strayed the furthest from normal, dear.]
'Shut your mouth.'
Jeong Bia continued.
"The place where the succubi have settled, centered around our mother. That's where she is."
"And that's where they're holding the wedding?"
"Yes. This time they're unusually holding it at the bride's family home."
Our destination was decided. The place where the succubi lived.
Then, Jung Ayeon's name suddenly came to mind.
"Hey, then since Jung Ayeon is also a child of succubi, does that mean her name is Jung Ayeon (情Zinc)?"
"......Yes."
A name like an aphrodisiac. Truly a succubus-style naming sense.
[Then what would this child's name be?]
'Gravias... probably not.'
Jeong Bia's body looked far too lacking compared to Jung Ayeon to deserve a name like Gravias. Of course, it was still better than Hye-ji or Caersi.
"Die."
"Drop dead, nya."
Still, she clearly didn't qualify to use the name Gravias. Hye-ji and Caersi's powerful fists slammed into both sides of my neck at the same time. While clutching my rattling brain, I asked Jeong Bia.
"Then what's your real name? It doesn't seem like it's actually Jeong Bia."
"......."
Jeong Bia thought for a moment before making up her mind. She slowly opened her mouth and spoke in a pained voice.
"Jeong Biagra (情Viagra)..."
"What?"
'This bitch is fucking with me using her own name?'
[She really sees you as a complete idiot.]
No human name could possibly be that. Even if I gave her a hundred passes for 'Ayeon (Zinc),' naming someone 'Viagra' crossed way too many lines.
"Stop bullshitting. Then your other siblings would be named Semen and Sperm? Don't talk nonsense."
"It's true."
".......I'm losing my mind."
[.......]
Jeong Biagra, shortened to Jeong Bia. Looked like that family had no sense of restraint. Or rather, the only two lines they had were the ones on a pregnancy test.
This time I was actually a little shocked. Regardless, Jeong Bia looked at me with desperate eyes.
"I'm sorry. This is my fault. But I want to fix it now, even if it's late."
"Like I said before, apologize to Jung Ayeon."
"I will...... So, will you help us?"
Honestly, what we were about to do was crash someone else's wedding as outsiders. Even though we were close to Jung Ayeon, it was a very weak connection compared to her fiancé. We weren't close enough to justify destroying someone else's wedding.
But.
"Let's go break everything. Wedding be damned."
Marriage is when two people meet and start a new life together. That process should include trust, faith, understanding, and love. Not all marriages in the world are like that, of course. But at least that's what I believe.
And if someone I know is suffering through a marriage they don't want...
I'm fully prepared to thoroughly destroy everything.
Plus, I really didn't like that two-faced bastard who had targeted me earlier. The shitty bastard didn't even offer money and just threw a tantrum the moment he saw me, so I figured I'd throw an even bigger tantrum right back.
I held out my hand to Jeong Bia and said.
"You're a piece of shit, but I'm doing this for my friend Jung Ayeon."
Jeong Bia looked surprised, as if she hadn't expected me to agree so easily. Then she smiled faintly and shook my hand.
"Thank you. Then I'll become your friend too."
It was the first time someone had offered to be my friend first. I looked at Jeong Bia and answered affectionately.
"No thanks."
"Do you really want to die from a succubus's curse?"
Anyway, our next course of action was decided.
Wedding destruction.
It was starting.
We were currently waiting for a taxi at the Academy. Jeong Bia said she'd somehow take care of the outing permission. If things didn't work out, we were going to go with 'Let's just use Hyeji here,' but fortunately Jeong Bia managed to get permission from the professor.
"I got permission for all of us. Did everyone pack their bags?"
Jeong Bia had gotten an extremely long leave of absence. Long enough that we could leave now and not come back until vacation ended. Since the tournament was already over, the Academy was willing to let it slide.
So we each packed our things from the dormitory and came out.
[Thank goodness. We don't have to go back to that ruin.]
'They'll fix the rest themselves.'
It wasn't my house anymore anyway. With nothing but a vague belief that the Academy would take care of it, we waited for the taxi.
Soon enough, the taxi arrived. The passengers would be me, Hyeji, Elsia, Caersi, and Jeong Bia—five people total.
"Ah, I should have called another one."
There had been a miscalculation in the headcount. The moment Jeong Bia sighed as if she hadn't thought of it, the taxi driver, as usual, asked for our destination.
"Where to?"
I recalled where we needed to go. The place where the succubi had settled. Jung Ayeon was there. I steeled my resolve to rescue her. Then I solemnly told the taxi driver.
"To the red-light district, please."
The taxi driver glanced at me. Then he chuckled softly.
"Heh. That's my boy."
He answered in a tone of recognition. Of course, the rest of the group's reactions were slightly different.
"Don't insult succubi, you son of a bitch!!!"
"Hang that bastard."
"It's reflection time!"
"Please just die already, nya."
In the end, we all crammed into a single taxi. I was crucified and mounted on the front of the taxi's hood as we moved.
"Fuck."
[......You're a blood bag now.]
'Max, hyung-nim. I miss you.'
And so the taxi cut through the cold night air and drove onward.