I Quit Being a Priest

I fundamentally pride myself on having a gentle personality. At least, I was the type who maintained minimum courtesy to others.

However, there are times when that becomes a bit difficult. When the holy power in my body is insufficient, I become sensitive.

For me, holy power was like life force, and when it became deficient, the means to prepare for unexpected situations decreased, so my peace of mind disappeared.

I think it’s probably similar to the feeling when there’s not enough blood in the body.

So I stared directly at the man looking down at me.

[Commander Bellarf is an interesting person! His eyes are always sharply raised as if he’s angry!]

I briefly recalled what Elly had said before coming here. True to her words, his expression was sharp, but is that what’s interesting?

Anyway, Elly’s impressions were beyond my understanding.

“Illia, is it? I apologize for judging by appearances. For now, sit over there.”

“Yes, well…”

Though his expression was sharp, he didn’t seem like a bad person. Nor did he seem weak enough to be dominated by the holy power I pressed down on him.

He was the top head of the Knight Order. Naturally, he would have the power to match.

He pulled a chair from his place and sat in front of me.

“So, Illia. Since Elly brought you, you must have the skills to match. Your age?”

“Twenty-three.”

“Twenty-three years old… Where are you from?”

“I don’t particularly want to tell you.”

I didn’t want to reveal my birthplace to someone I just met today. The reason was more that if they had information they were hiding from me, I also didn’t want to reveal all my information.

Bellarf’s brow narrowed slightly at this, but he didn’t particularly question me. He probably didn’t want to instill wariness in me either.

“Then I’ll ask one last thing. What’s your reason for wanting to join the Knight Order?”

Yes, I knew he would ask that. I had no particular reason to hide from his question, which seemed like a formal Knight Order inquiry, so I told it as it was.

“Information. I want the information the Knight Order has.”

What I, who had left the Hero’s Party, wanted wasn’t that big. If I couldn’t wrap up this incident before returning to my hometown for recuperation, I felt like I would live the rest of my life with discomfort.

If I looked in the mirror and asked myself if it was right to turn my back on them as a fellow priest, I honestly wouldn’t be able to give a definitive answer.

If someone was doing something terrible to fellow priests, who were already few in number, I wanted to make them stop, even if it meant catching and killing them with my own hands.

Hearing my words, Bellarf nodded as if somewhat intrigued.

“Information, is it? It’s true that the Knight Order’s information network is extensive, but isn’t it foolish to think that the information you want is here?”

“That’s fine. If it’s not here, I’ll just look for it. If the information remains unseen even after searching, I’ll leave without hesitation.”

Bellarf was silent. If this had been an interview to select applicants for the Knight Order, it would have been close to the worst answer.

However,

“You’re bold. But I don’t think that’s wrong. Rather, it’s more convenient for us if your purpose is clear.”

I hadn’t applied to the Knight Order on my own. I was closer to being a referral.

Since it wasn’t an interview, the answer that could have been the worst was heard differently.

In a place closer to a negotiation than an interview, it’s better to clearly state the purpose.

That way, the law of equivalent exchange is established: I want to receive something, so I’ll do that much work in return.

And with that, Bellarf continued, still emitting a serious atmosphere.

“So, how much power enhancement can you provide us? As you know, the Knight Order is in a chaotic period recently. The number of magical beasts pushing into the vicinity of the village has increased exponentially, and we desperately need power like never before. However.”

However.

With that single word, Bellarf added weight to his words. Enough for even Elly, who was just watching, to turn her gaze towards us.

“I understand your purpose, but we don’t know the extent of your power. Uncertain power is worse than none.”

He wasn’t wrong. From his position as the one effectively governing the Knight Order, he had an obligation to grasp the power of those under him, even if just a little.

But it was a bit difficult to demonstrate holy magic in front of him. It was different from Elly. At a glance, it might look magnificent, but if one were to examine it closely, it was closer to an optical illusion.

She was so dense that she easily fell for it, but Commander Bellarf was different. If I were to perform the spell I had used earlier, he would probably notice immediately.

Moreover, even if I managed to deceive him by breaking through an incredibly low probability, one spell doesn’t properly demonstrate combat power as a metric.

He probably wasn’t looking for that kind of method either.

“I’d like to demonstrate, but currently my holy power…”

“I’ll give you a week’s time.”

A week.

An ambiguous time that’s long if you say it’s long, extremely short if you say it’s short, but more than enough time for holy power exhaustion to heal.

That was the grace period I was sentenced to. After making such a grand declaration, Bellarf emitted a strong aura that felt pressuring and met my eyes directly.

I didn’t avoid that gaze either. If only this damned holy power exhaustion problem was resolved, there was something I wanted to try as well.

“How about an official duel with one of our Knight Order members after a week?”

“Do you mean it doesn’t matter who the opponent is?”

“It doesn’t matter, but the difference in the amount of information you can obtain from the result will certainly be clear.”

That’s cunning.

He’s saying that it doesn’t matter who I duel with, but the stronger the opponent, the more benefits the Knight Order will give me.

This means an easy win is impossible.

“That’s fine. I also happened to have something I wanted to test.”

I still have a body that can’t perform any miracles for others. Because I concentrated all miracles on myself that day.

That’s why I was more curious. How strong could I become when I concentrated all my miracles on myself?

It had been quite a while since I manifested my unique magic, but since it was an ability I had never brought out into the world, it was inevitable that I wanted to test it.

“…I see.”

Bellarf smiled slightly. A faint smile that would not be visible unless closely observed.

“I like that look in your eyes, at least.”

Having safely exited the commander’s office, I walked down the corridor following Elly.

This was because she had said she would introduce me to the interior of the Knight Order headquarters.

“Hey, unni has more charisma than I thought. Not backing down at all in front of the commander.”

“Hmm… I don’t really think so.”

I said, recalling Yuria, whose will didn’t show signs of breaking despite my outbursts.

Towards the latter part of our journey, the conflict between her and me was a bit severe. If I acted out, she wouldn’t just accept my opinion but would counterattack with her own outbursts.

If I had charisma as Elly said, such incidents probably wouldn’t have happened, so I had never thought of myself that way.

“Oh, that level is quite impressive. Within the Knight Order, most people can’t say a word when they stand in front of the commander.”

“Huh… Is that so? It didn’t seem that way.”

Elly nodded. She was the one who had been glancing with interest when I was conversing with Commander Bellarf.

To her, who had no trace of seriousness, my existence seemed to be just amusing.

“Hoho, so what do you think?”

“About what?”

“The duel. You’re going to have an official duel with one of the Knight Order people, as was just mentioned.”

“Ah, that.”

I think it would be impossible to defeat a monster like Commander Bellarf even with my full power.

As the one who directly commands the Knight Order, his power would probably far surpass imagination.

The spirit I felt while conversing with him earlier definitely contained power unimaginable for the same human being.

Perhaps even stronger than Karnel, who hadn’t yet awakened his power as a hero.

“Don’t know. I guess I’ll just grab anyone and do it.”

“You’re quite confident. Want to do it with me?”

“No thanks.”

“Chicken?”

“You little shit.”

I don’t like Elly. There’s no particular reason, I just don’t like her. I’d rather just duel with someone else of the same rank.

“Hmph, why are you getting so angry over a joke? And we’ve arrived.”

Elly, who had been leading the way in front of me, stopped at a door.

“This is your room, unni. The commander wanted me to relay that you’ll be handling clerical duties here until the duel is conducted.”

Elly inserted a key into the doorknob and opened the door. Then she handed the key to me and gestured for me to go in.

“Ah, and I have to go report to the commander, so I’ll excuse myself now.”

“Huh? Oh, alright. Take care.”

Things seem to be flowing differently from what I had thought.

I’m not sure if this path is the right one, but now that things have turned out this way, it’s already too late to turn back.

Let it be what it will be.