I Quit Being a Priest

A big shot from the back alley. Just with those words, I could guess what kind of person the man sitting next to me was.

First, the back alleys of the Central City typically refer to the slums. A place where various crimes occur daily.

Even the Empire’s knights turn a blind eye and abandon it, a dark aspect of the Central City where the concept of public safety doesn’t exist.

And he’s known as a big shot in such a place. This man sitting next to me.

But.

If he thought I would back down because of that, he was mistaken.

“…I’ll say it one last time. Remove that hand.”

I threatened him in the lowest voice possible. Then the building filled with laughter.

It was the sound of people mocking me. It seemed that most of the people inside were his subordinates.

It certainly must have looked amusing to them. Even to me, the sight of a small woman warning dozens of people didn’t look natural.

Perhaps their laughter stemmed from that awkwardness.

“Kekeke, and if I don’t? What do you plan to do if I, personally, say I don’t want to? Shoot lightning with that tiny wand?”

His subordinates laughed along with his laughter. They must have found their boss’s strange behavior towards an unfamiliar woman purely entertaining.

However,

I wasn’t merciful enough to repeat the same words more than twice.

If anything, I was the opposite.

“The subject is Creation.”

I spread the holy power I had ignited in my hand and floated it into the air. And it didn’t take long for the staff I had leaned against to aim at the floating holy power.

A speed that would be natural for those with experienced combat skills, but impossible to follow for those without.

The holy power that had been wandering without direction found its path the moment I aimed my staff at it. The vast amount of holy power that had bloomed in all directions engraved a circuit in the air.

The holy power that had settled into a shape by engraving the circuit transformed into dozens of golden glowing blades directed at his flesh.

The number of circuits engraved for a single threat is countless. Igniting holy power and constructing a blade requires a vast amount of holy power.

It’s inefficient.

It’s truly unimaginably inefficient, but holy power is a substance that cannot inflict even a small scratch on others without accepting that inefficiency.

“Remove. Your hand.”

There were many sequential processes, but to them, it was just a moment.

In that brief time, starting with the staff being raised in my hand, dozens of blades aimed at that man’s body.

If I just moved a finger here, his body would harmonize with countless blades.

But contrary to expectations, the emotion forming on his face wasn’t fear.

If anything, it was closer to interest. He didn’t back down.

“Stop. The opponent is not someone you can handle.”

“We’ll see about that.”

As I lightly raised my hand, a massive amount of holy power rippled. I was already in a state of heightened sensitivity due to my complicated mind.

If I caused a disturbance in the Central City, the knights would come, but knowing that, I constructed blades but didn’t pierce his body.

I was just observing the opponent’s reaction. His reaction was lackluster. He clicked his tongue as if annoyed and stood up nervously.

He probably didn’t want to engage in combat in such a place either.

“Tsk, forget it. I just wanted to liven up this dull atmosphere of men gathered together, but who knew you’d be such a fierce woman.”

As he stood up, I slowly released the holy power I had held in my hand. I too didn’t want to waste the holy power that hadn’t fully returned after being poured into constructing this body.

I didn’t want to waste the slowly regenerating holy power inside my body on unnecessary things.

But he didn’t simply retreat either. Before leaving, he added one more comment.

“It would be good to secure lodging early. The nights in the Central City aren’t very safe.”

A disturbance occurred. As he rose from his seat, those who appeared to be his subordinates followed him out, and I also retrieved the holy power I had ignited in the air, so the incident could be considered settled for now.

In the now quieted place, I sighed and raised my glass. I wanted to cool my heated head, even if just for a moment.

However, the tavern owner’s eyes didn’t look good. His expression seemed like he wanted to demand what crazy thing I had just done, and sure enough, as I sat before him sipping my beer, he shouted.

“Do you know what you’ve just done!”

“He started it…”

I answered nonchalantly. As it was already resolved, I couldn’t understand why he was reacting this way.

“Haah… is this your first time in the Central City?”

“I’ve stopped by a few times while traveling, but not frequently.”

The tavern owner heard my response and pressed his forehead, saying he thought as much.

“You’ve… picked the wrong person to mess with! Do you know how dangerous those who operate in the back alleys of the Central City are!”

“How dangerous are they?”

I too had heard about the darkness in the Central City. A dangerous place where people die casually, even knight patrols don’t reach, and even veteran adventurers hesitate to enter.

Rumors said a massive assassin organization had settled there.

And above all.

[The nights in the Central City are dangerous.]

It was what Iris used to say habitually whenever we visited here.

But as with most people, no matter how many times you hear something, if you haven’t seen it firsthand, you tend to doubt its credibility.

Of course, I was the same. I’d heard it dozens of times verbally, but I hadn’t directly confirmed their danger with my own eyes.

So I asked the tavern owner how dangerous they were. He exhaled a deep sigh as if the ground would cave in and began to speak.

“…His name is Dialo. He achieved overwhelming top marks at the Academy but dropped out for unknown reasons and converted to being an assassin. I hear he even matches the knights of the Knight Order.”

“Hmm…”

I listened to his story with some interest and expressed an appropriate reaction.

Actually, it was just a deflated sound I uttered, as if throwing out any word because I wasn’t really curious and didn’t know how to react to his words, but the tavern owner didn’t seem to like that attitude much.

“Don’t you understand the seriousness of the situation? You’ve just been marked by such a person! You might be finely cut up and become food for wild dogs when night falls, or you might be captured and become a living slave!”

After hearing his words to the end, I exhaled the remaining alcohol aroma in my mouth with a ‘hoo’.

I still wasn’t getting drunk, and the peculiar fishiness hadn’t faded, but that didn’t mean the thirst that made my throat feel dry hadn’t been quenched.

Just cool enough to clear my head.

“Thanks for the advice, but I’ll be fine.”

Even though my profession was a priest, I had gained enough experience to protect myself. After all, I was a former member of the hero’s party.

Of course, I didn’t want to confront such dangerous individuals unnecessarily. As he said, I might be in quite a dangerous situation right now.

However, there must be something I don’t know. Did he say he could match a knight of the Knight Order? Certainly, if his words were true, he was at a level that should be cautious of.

But it wasn’t a serious level of caution. Let’s take Karnel as an example, who could face several knights alone even though his hero’s awakening stage hadn’t fully progressed yet.

If Karnel visited the Central City and got into a dispute with this Dialo, would Karnel need to be cautious of that man?

Of course not. Dialo’s power falls far short compared to Karnel’s. The result would be the same even if he brought all his subordinates.

But Iris was cautious about our 4-person party, including Karnel, Yuria, herself, and me, standing in the Central City at night.

If the leader of the back alleys was this man called Dialo, it was a reaction that shouldn’t have been shown.

Since Iris grew up in the Central City, she would generally understand the environment here, and because it was her reaction, it was generally trustworthy.

Dialo is just a facade. I concluded in my heart that there must be a different true mastermind behind the back alleys of the Central City.

I placed some cash on the table. I don’t know how much a drink costs, but this should be more than enough.

“Well then.”

I stood up and turned my back. There was no specific destination for where I was headed.

And the tavern owner called out to me as I was about to leave.

“Hey, wait! Are you really going to be okay?”

But my footsteps didn’t stop at his words. I no longer felt the need to engage in conversation, so I was just trying to exit the building before the atmosphere became awkward.

‘The back alleys…’

It wasn’t a planned place, but I was personally intrigued. I was curious about who was behind the organization in the back alleys, which was large enough for even the Central City’s Knight Order to abandon.

That didn’t mean I was going to the back alleys right away. First, I wanted to book a room and unpack before it got too late.

Having incurred their enmity earlier, if I stayed here any longer, unpleasant things might happen, as the tavern owner had said.

So I moved my steps towards the center of the city. Not a leisurely pace, nor a rushed one.