I Quit Being a Priest

I finally did it.
Unable to endure Iris and Yuria’s bullshit, I finally left the party.
But thinking about it now, I had no regrets. While I’m not sure about Karnel, it seemed like Iris and Yuria had their heads filled with the intention of driving me out from the beginning.
Even so,
“Sigh…”
I couldn’t help but feel a bitterness lingering in the corner of my heart.
I briefly recalled the past events.
After continuously studying and honing my holy power to become a priest in the Order of the Sun God, when I finally reached the position of valedictorian, I met him for the first time.
A man with the title of Hero.
[The Head Priest? So that means you’re the most outstanding priest on this continent?]
[That’s not usually the case, but I can swear on my name. At least there’s no priest better than me on this continent.]
What I said then wasn’t mere bravado. Since childhood, I had traveled to various villages, visiting churches, but most of the time, their holy power didn’t even reach half of mine.
While others might not know, among people in the clergy, just mentioning my name would earn me the title of a once-in-a-generation genius.
Karnel acknowledged the value of me as a person and invited me to become his companion to save the world together.
At first, I wasn’t particularly pleased. Back then, I was like a treasure to the church.
It felt like betraying my place if I left on my own, so at that time, I decided to decline his offer.
But the more I looked at Karnel, the more beautiful I found his ideals to be.
A world after the Demon Lord’s death, where all wars would end.
[Illis, won’t you become my companion? I’m still gathering a party, but if you take the role of priest, taking down the Demon Lord would be more than possible. After all, you’re the continent’s best priest, right?]
I thought then that if Karnel, with the continent’s strongest combat power, and I, with the best support abilities, joined forces, the dream of defeating the Demon Lord wouldn’t be impossible.
I also highly valued Karnel’s character. I thought I could trust and follow him.
But even Karnel wasn’t without his flaws.
To put it nicely, he was pure; to put it bluntly, he was a pushover.
His kind nature actually made him a troublemaker who couldn’t refuse others’ requests, creating various problems. Also, he lacked judgment when it came to people.
Looking at the party members besides me, those two bitches, that was undoubtedly true.
“…”
Of course, I still don’t think he was wrong. I just wanted recognition from others.
I wanted to use my talents to be recognized by others, to be trusted by my companions, and for people to record the name “Illis” as a hero.
I hoped to restore the fallen image of priests.
But
-Crack, crackle.
That’s probably not possible now that I’ve left the party.
Rather, even if I returned home, I couldn’t escape the criticism that would pour out, saying, “The bug finally got kicked out.”
I put branches into the crackling, burning campfire. As summer ended and the cold winds of autumn began to blow, not keeping warm could lead to catching a cold.
Of course, I wouldn’t have to worry if I wrapped myself in holy power, but for some reason, I wanted to see a campfire now.
Perhaps I wanted someone to acknowledge my existence in this quiet forest.
I just missed warmth. A warmth that could soothe my empty heart, even just a little.
“Where exactly did it go wrong…”
Was it when I finally couldn’t take it anymore and cursed at those women?
No, no.
Going back a bit further, was it when I didn’t stop Karnel from going to the Battle Magic Department of the Academy when he was gathering companions?
Or when I didn’t strongly push away the spirit user who approached Karnel?
Or maybe…
Was it wrong from the beginning, from the moment I met Karnel?
“If I go back home like this, I’ll surely be cursed enough to last a lifetime.”
No, but the more I think about it, the more pissed off I get. What exactly did I do wrong to deserve curses?
Honestly, it’s not my fault that those bitches are shitty.
“Those fucking bitches…”
I suppressed the boiling anger inside me. Getting angry alone here would just be a meaningless waste of energy.
Anyway, I can’t go back like this. I want to avoid a life of getting stones thrown at me on the streets.
Should I change my appearance? How?
I pondered deeply about how to move around villages with peace of mind.
Come to think of it, in the Sun God’s holy book, I had heard a story about how when the king who ruled this continent in the distant past was in danger of dying from old age, he gathered dozens of priests, created a new body, and successfully transferred his soul into that body.
But that’s probably unrealistic. It’s not like I have the holy power of dozens of priests inside me.
While I prided myself on being the continent’s best priest, handling the holy power of dozens, let alone ten people, by myself was an absurd story.
“Sigh, fuck it. I’ll just give up.”
I muttered curses to myself. If I had about 3 people, there might have been enough possibility to try, but that wasn’t the case.
“…Huh?”
Wait, 3 people?
If I thought about the keyword of 3 people, it wasn’t such an impossible possibility.
I could do it. Or more precisely, with my abilities, I could make that seemingly impossible formula possible.
I immediately got up and grabbed the staff that was lying next to me.
“…Should I give it a try?”
It was worth attempting. It wasn’t the kind of spell that would damage my body if it failed.
I’d just run out of holy power and be unable to handle it for a week.
Holy power exhaustion was critical when I had to stand on the front lines before, but not now that I had left the party.
And even if I failed here, the fact that I attempted this spell formula alone holds significant academic value.
If I wrote down this process as a thesis and submitted it to the Order, it would ensure I wouldn’t have trouble making a living in some form or another.
So, even for research purposes, there was no reason not to try.
Honestly, it also piqued my personal interest.
“…Unique Magic.”
I ignited holy power in my hands. And now, here, I implemented the unique magic that I thought I would never use as long as I was in the party.
Unique Magic is like a card. It’s what manifests as one’s unique ability when a human reaches the pinnacle of a field.
Of course, my ability was a landmine. Because it was a landmine, it was an ability I had never revealed to the world.
In this state, I can’t perform any miracles or buffs.
It’s a technique that concentrates all the healing and buffs I can perform on myself, and the healing and buffs applied to me return with 3 times the efficiency.
My unique magic, which I had sealed away thinking I would never use it in my lifetime because of its extreme effect of changing from a healer position to a dealer.
“Sun God, hear the prayer of a young lamb and bestow a miracle.”
Golden holy power blazed in all directions. I turned all the powers I could exercise as a priest onto myself.
And as a result, I felt my total holy power boil up to slightly more than 3 times the usual amount.
This is doable. Thanks to having memorized all the holy books of the Order during my apprentice days, that spell formula remained in my head, allowing me to draw it right here.
I slowly engraved a spell formula with intricately twisted circuits of holy power on the ground.
I could feel a massive amount of holy power burning away in the process, but I didn’t stop.
If I stopped here, the holy power that had already burned away would be too wasteful.
“The first subject is Creation.”
I breathed holy power into the spell formula I had engraved on the ground. Although I had already consumed a vast amount of holy power in the process of drawing the circuit, my total holy power, amplified to more than 3 times, still had room.
The holy power breathed into the spell formula began to shine brightly along the surrounding circuit.
This is probably the part with the largest consumption of holy power. The core of this spell formula that builds a new body.
I breathed the spell into the engraved circuit, filling in its color.
Dozens of runes glowing in various colors emitted a soft light, filling the given vessel with holy power.
From the complex connection formula that was filled to overflowing, I recited the subject.
“I desire a body to contain the vessel of my soul.”
Only then did I greatly feel the remaining holy power rapidly disappearing.
I smirked bitterly at the fact that I had created alone a spell formula that dozens of priests had gathered to build in the past.
The circuits of holy power, glowing brightly in blue, stretched smoothly as if dancing. According to the records in the holy book, at this point, it was almost complete.
Looking at the slowly rising skeletal frame of the body at the center of the circuit, I gathered the last remaining holy power to the bottom and drew the spell connection formula in the air.
“The second subject is Connection.”
Because I had scraped together holy power to the limit, my whole body lost strength, and I even felt a headache and dizziness, but if I ignited the circuit now, my soul would be transplanted into the newly created body.
I did feel an instinctive resistance to changing bodies, but rather than going back and getting cursed, it seemed better to start a new life.
If I succeeded here, I wouldn’t have to face those bitches again.
-Whoosh.
After hesitating a bit, I finally ignited the holy power in the circuit.
The spell circuits that had risen into the air were dyed the same color as the holy power I had ignited, brightly illuminating the dark forest in the late hour.
As the ignited holy power enveloped my body, I felt my vision becoming increasingly blurry.
And I slowly accepted it and closed my eyes.
That’s as far as my memory goes for that night.