I Quit Being a Priest

I processed various documents in the assigned office for a while. Actually, when I say I processed documents, it might sound very intellectual and like I was working as a member of society, but the reality was not like that.

It was in the form of simple labor: appropriately classifying and organizing complaints and inquiries pouring into the Knight Order and delivering them to the relevant individuals.

It didn’t particularly require specialized knowledge, nor did it demand physical ability.

It was just a simple task of receiving documents delivered to my office, reviewing them once, and then distributing them to others.

Moreover, the amount of work wasn’t that much, so after completing the day’s tasks, I rolled around in bed, and such days continued for about 3 days.

Therefore, I firmly believed that the remaining 4 days would pass peacefully like this.

Surely it would have been so, but.

“New recruit Illia. What are you doing right now?”

“I’m eating snacks while reading a comic.”

A man entered my office. When I was savoring the happiness of being holed up in a better-than-expected environment.

Crunch! I chewed the snack in my hand. If someone saw this, they might ask what kind of manners this was, but I wasn’t yet an official Knight Order member.

So, I thought it would be okay for now.

“Less than three days in and already neglecting duties… trash has entered the proud Imperial Knight Order.”

“Um… I’ve already finished today’s work.”

“Aha!! If you’ve finished your work, you should look for other work to do or at least train to become stronger. Don’t you hear the voices of the soldiers training outside?!”

“Yeah, the soundproofing is so good that I really can’t hear anything, so couldn’t you just leave me alone?”

Edwin, I know that man. I often encountered him when delivering documents.

A massive physique that makes one wonder if he’s truly human. A muscular body that’s almost grotesquely burly.

Deltoids so thick I wanted to measure them, biceps larger than my head, and forearms where veins looked like they might burst out – it was revolutionary and something I’d never seen before.

If I met him outside the village, I might first suspect he was a magical beast. With such a physique, it was natural that he would stand out as he roamed the corridors, and somehow I even memorized his name.

“Hmph, it seems you haven’t learned society and don’t know what manners are. Follow me, recruit. I’ll train that weak body of yours.”

“…? I don’t want to.”

“Kiai!!!!!”

“Ah, shit. What!”

Startled by Edwin’s sudden shout, I dropped the snack I was eating under the bed.

Ah, that won’t do. I’ll have to sweep up all the scattered crumbs of the crumbled snack.

I shot a nervous glance at Edwin. However, he calmly held out a badge.

“I’m sorry, but you’ll have to obey my orders. It’s my duty to teach and train the new recruits.”

I narrowed my eyes to read the words written on the badge.
New Recruit Instructor Edwin.

Fuck. Why is this real?

“That is, I’m your direct superior, in a sense. So follow me, trainee Illia.”

“Waaah!?”

As Edwin approached, my gaze moved upward, and I felt buoyancy throughout my body.

Feeling a strange sensation that defied gravity with my entire body, I instinctively looked down, and the height was quite high.

A height that might be everyday for Edwin, but not at all for me.

“Gyaaaah!! Put this down! I said put me down!”

“Good, a voice full of spirit!”

“From what perspective, you fucking bastard!!”

Edwin lightly lifted my body as if he felt no weight at all and slung me over his shoulder.

The strength with which he held me was so strong that I couldn’t possibly detach myself with my own strength.

And so, without being able to offer any resistance, I was kidnapped. And by a muscle freak who seemed like his brain would be filled with protein too.

Elly was, as usual, on her way to report after perfectly completing the Knight Order’s tasks she had received.

During this, she happened to hear a strange sound from the training ground.

As a knight, if you hear a strange sound, you should check it directly. So she turned her steps towards the training ground with confident yet light footsteps.

And when she observed the place closely, what she saw was a large man and a slender woman.

“Is that all the voice you can muster!”

“Ah, aah!!”

“I can’t hear what you’re saying! I’ll give you the authority to say what you want for 10 seconds!”

“Hey, you brain-filled-with-muscle pig! You fu-”

“10 seconds are up. Run!”

“Aah!!”

Running on the training ground were Elly’s senior, Edwin, and Illia.

Even though Edwin was running several times, no, dozens of times slower than usual to match Illia’s pace, Illia’s basic physical fitness was so poor that it was truly pathetic.

Elly, who had judged that even if she crawled, she would be faster than that, sat down and made herself comfortable.

“Heh, found something fun.”

She opened a bag of popcorn from her backpack. She needed a snack to accompany this precious sight.

Elly couldn’t take her eyes off this rare amusing scene. No, she decided to watch it until it ended.

“Why did you stop and sit down! Run! I’ll strengthen that weak body that hasn’t undergone any training!”

“Ah, aaah…!”

Illia cursed Edwin with her eyes. Of course, such things wouldn’t have been conveyed to him, who was quite insensitive to such matters.

And so, having run beyond her limits, Illia finally reached her limit and collapsed.

And Edwin didn’t seem to have any intention of leaving her alone.

“Haah… Illia. I heard there’s a duel in four days. Shouldn’t we make that weak body of yours able to defeat at least one soldier of the Knight Order?”

“I, I don’t need it… Haa, haa…”

“Kiai!!! All responses are unified with ‘aah’. Understood?”

“…”

Ah, that flaming look in Illia’s eyes now was killing intent. If one could kill with a look, she would have already slaughtered Edwin ten times over.

However.

That’s impossible.

Elly concluded, crunching on her popcorn. Edwin was one of the top ten strongest in the Central City’s sizeable Knight Order.

He was called a hero on the battlefield and was particularly known as one of the two monsters within the Knight Order.

He wasn’t an opponent that could be defeated with holy power. Therefore, Elly shook her head with a bitter smile.

That smile seemed to be tinged with faint sympathy.

“I’ll teach you the sword! Take up a sword, recruit!”

“I’m telling you, I don’t need…”

“Ah-ah!”

“Aah…”

Illia lifted a sword from a storage filled with weapons.

Seeing her appearance, Elly covered her mouth with one hand to suppress the laughter that was about to burst out.

She couldn’t lift the sword. Though she was clearly holding the handle with both hands, the blade touched the ground.

The silver iron sword stuck to the ground showed no signs of rising into the air.

Even Elly could see Edwin pressing his forehead with his hand.

“Eeeek…! Haa, haa… I really, really can’t lift it…”

“My my…”

“S-stop it… I’m really going to die…”

“…Does the world change if you kneel like that? Do you wish to become strong without any effort? I declare one thing. If you don’t stand up here, you won’t be able to defeat any of the soldiers belonging to the Knight Order.”

Illia showed an expression as if she was the most wronged person in the world. Now she was so dumbfounded that words could barely come out properly, and she opened and closed her mouth for a long time, moving her lips.

For a moment, Illia, who almost lost her reason, raised her right hand, but her left hand, exercising superhuman patience, grabbed that right hand and stopped it.

At the comical sight, which looked like the left and right brain colliding with each other, Elly finally couldn’t hold back her laughter and giggled, holding her stomach.

It was indeed unfair. Of course, Edwin was guiding her like that because he found Illia, who was physically weak and had zero mana quantity, to be pathetic, but Illia was a holy spellcaster.

Instead of using mana, she uses holy power and quickly draws complex spell formulas with dazzling hand movements.

Even to Elly, Illia wasn’t weak. It’s just that her power wasn’t well-expressed externally.

Those who possess mana excel at detecting mana in the surroundings, but they don’t sense holy power well.

Of course, a skilled magician could sense it if they concentrated, but there weren’t many weirdos who would concentrate to detect holy power in front of someone they’ve just met, so Illia’s power was even less apparent on the surface.

“Illia, I don’t think being weak is bad. What’s important is the mindset to change. But you don’t even show any attempt to change.”

“I get it, so please stop now… My legs hurt so much, they won’t move anymore…”

Edwin finally sighed deeply as he looked at Illia, who was slumped on the ground.

For a moment, Edwin was genuinely curious about how Illia had received a grace period from the commander.

“…Come out here tomorrow after you finish your work. I won’t accept any objections. Show me possibility in the remaining four days.”

“…”

Edwin, who turned his back on Illia sitting on the ground, left the place with footsteps that still felt heavy.

Elly decided to slip away at that point. The expression of Illia, who was left alone, was somewhat distorted.

It seemed she judged that if she got involved, she would be the one to suffer.

“Hee hee, heehee! Four days, I’ll see you in four days, you dog-like muscle freak! Heeheeheehee!”