I Quit Being a Priest

For the first time, I was relieved that I was twenty-three years old. Although I now had the status of a wandering traveler with no fixed abode, having left the church, my heart was still that of a follower of the Sun God.
Therefore, following the teaching that values respect, I typically used at least minimal honorifics for someone I’ve just met, especially someone older than me, but I didn’t want to use honorifics for such a person.
-Whoosh.
I stretched my hand into the air and retrieved the scattered holy power. Elly exclaimed, “Oh!” at the sight of the golden light that had extended from my hand flowing back into my body.
Then she extended her hand to me, who was still lying on the ground.
“So, what’s your name, unni?”
“…Illia.”
While I still wasn’t used to the newly crafted name, there were various problems with giving my previous name, which had already “died,” so there was no other choice.
I accepted the extended hand and raised my somewhat heavy body.
“Hmm, Illia unni has a pretty face, but you should wash up. It’s because you wander around in such a state in broad daylight that you’re not popular. Got it?”
“…”
Hearing that, it seems someone thinks I do this on purpose. I didn’t particularly want to attract attention in the first place.
That said, showing oneself in an unsightly state to others is not mannerly. This was written in the holy book too, so I didn’t particularly deny Elly’s words.
It might have been unpleasant, but it wasn’t wrong.
“First, I’ll guide you to our headquarters. Currently, the Knight Order is short on manpower, so someone like Illia unni might immediately receive a knight position, don’t you think?”
“Is that really allowed?”
“Normally it’s not, but as I said earlier, the Knight Order is in a bad situation. Besides, we basically have a meritocratic mindset, so I think it’ll be okay.”
“Hmm…”
Is that why Elly rose to such a position at the age of twenty-one? Certainly, the spirit I felt from her earlier was not ordinary.
If that’s the case, the treatment might not be bad. If I ever have nowhere to go, I might seriously consider the option of planting myself in the Knight Order.
But more importantly,
There was a more crucial matter. Even if it was temporary, I shouldn’t forget the reason I was cooperating with the Knight Order.
“Elly.”
I called the name of the person beside me with a somewhat serious tone, arranging my disheveled silver hair.
“I’ve heard that there have been many crimes targeting holy spellcasters in the Central City recently. As someone who uses holy power, I’ll ask: how much do you know?”
“Hmm… To get straight to the point, I probably know more than you think. When we return to headquarters, you’ll gain even more information.”
Elly pointed to Dialo, who was being dragged by her subordinates from behind, and said that.
Does that mean that since they’ll interrogate him to spill information, they’ve already obtained it? I couldn’t guarantee that the man would open his mouth if I interrogated him alone, so this seemed like a better outcome.
“So, are you willing to share that information you know?”
“Hey, of course not! You’re not close with me yet, unni.”
“…Whatever, then.”
She might look dense, but she’s not an easy opponent. Even in that seemingly stupid expression, she subtly tries to hide important things.
I even thought that perhaps that smile was all an act to induce carelessness.
“The Empire is prickly.”
“I’m being cautious.”
No, so what’s the difference?
“First, if unni looks like that, there’s no face to meet the commander, so shall we get a new set of clothes for you nearby?”
When I quietly nodded to Elly’s words, I felt her grabbing my disheveled hair.
For a moment, I tried to remove her hand, wondering what she was doing, but mana flowed faintly from Elly’s hand.
At first, it seemed like a water-attribute magic. Along with the somewhat unfamiliar sensation of my hair becoming damp, I felt some moisture.
And then came the wind. Wind to remove the moisture stuck to my hair and to wash away the dirt and dust as well.
Mixing in a bit of fire-attribute magic, it seemed, the warm wind dried my hair in the time it took to blink.
I gently stroked my hair with my hand. The hair, definitely softer and more lustrous than before, looked at least better than earlier.
“That’s interesting. Magic can do such things too?”
Holy power can’t fucking do things like that. For some reason, I felt like I had accumulated one defeat.
More than that, judging by the sword hanging at her waist, I thought she was a swordsman, but was that not the case?
Seeing her skilled manipulation of mana, she might be a magic swordsman.
“Hoho, this is just basic magic. Can’t Illia unni do even this?”
“As you can see, I don’t have a body that can handle mana.”
Even if I could read the array of mana spells with my eyes, without a catalyst to activate them, there was no way I could use magic.
I wanted to use magic too. In my mind, I raised Elly’s threat level by half a notch.
Because she was annoying.

The atmosphere of the Imperial Knight Order is always strict and serious. Though they say they don’t have the luxury for that now, they were a Knight Order that occasionally sent elite personnel to the magic boundary.
Befitting those who are always prepared to go to the magic boundary, most are a group half-obsessed with training, which is exactly what the Imperial Knight Order is.
As such, it was also a place where many individuals with remarkable power could be seen.
Knight Commander Bellarf liked that atmosphere of the Knight Order. The atmosphere where one constantly trains oneself to grow stronger, in order to step into uncharted territories.
However, as is always the case, if there are those who create an atmosphere, there is bound to be at least one who shatters the created atmosphere.
With a “Bang!” and a somewhat brutish noise, the door to the commander’s office where Bellarf was working opened. It was opened with such force that the door was half-damaged.
“Commander!!!”
At that loud noise, Bellarf pressed his forehead with his hand and greeted the annoying uninvited guest.
Though she was certainly his subordinate and a somewhat excellent one at that, her personality still didn’t seem to be something he could get used to.
“Elly, if that door, which is already half-destroyed because of you, completely breaks, I’ll deduct the repair cost from your salary.”
“Heh, sorry, but that won’t happen! I’m controlling my strength to just the right amount that won’t break it completely!”
Bellarf, who was sighing deeply while looking at his subordinate who seemed to struggle with the privilege of dialogue given to intelligent beings, suddenly noticed a girl standing next to Elly.
‘The uninvited guests have increased.’
Although it was he who had said to find talent and bring them in because the Knight Order was short on manpower, he hadn’t imagined that she would bring another kid around her age.
But that much was acceptable. The Imperial Knight Order could turn a blind eye to other aspects as long as one’s skills were good. That’s why he had given Elly a fairly high position as well.
However, it wasn’t the silver-haired girl next to her right now. Delicate arms with no sign of physical training and a small frame.
And above all, the flow of mana was not felt at all.
The flow of mana was terribly unfelt, to the extent that even the Knight Commander Bellarf couldn’t detect it.
“Hmm… Is this the commander’s office? It’s narrower than I thought.”
Moreover, even her way of speaking lacked manners, which irritated him further. Elly alone was enough when it came to lacking manners.
“Elly, what is that next to you?”
“Huh? It’s Illia unni. I brought her because she seemed like a good person.”
“I wasn’t asking for her name.”
Bellarf, who was looking at a girl with long, flowing silver hair and blue eyes that gave off a somewhat sharp atmosphere, narrowed his eyebrows and shook his head.
She certainly had presence, but the girl in front of him didn’t appear favorable.
Judging by the fact that she didn’t have a sword at her waist, she probably wasn’t skilled in swordsmanship, and since strength without a sword is mostly directly linked to mana quantity, this “Illia” had even less than an ordinary person.
“W-what… It’s unpleasant to stare at someone’s face like that…”
“I’ll ask.”
Bellarf stood up and walked to the front of Illia with skillful steps.
His eyes were sharp and fierce. It seemed like an ordinary person had gotten involved due to Elly’s mood, but for that very reason, it was also an action to intimidate and make her leave quickly.
“Why have you come here?”
“Illia unni is a strong person!”
“Be quiet, Elly. I’m asking this person directly.”
She had a small frame. Standing close, she was so short that he had to look down to see her face.
However, when Bellarf stood in front of Illia, he felt a chilling killing intent piercing his body.
It was a killing intent as sharp as his own. It happened when Illia lightly raised her hand.
The surrounding air sank heavily, and an inexplicable force began to weigh down on his body.
“This is…”
“I’m on edge right now because my holy power is depleted.”
What was constricting Bellarf’s body was none other than holy power. Holy power, which has become rare to see these days.
No wonder mana couldn’t be felt. Her body would be filled with holy power, not mana.
“Excuse me for our first meeting, but it’s a bit unpleasant to be looked down upon like that.”
“Ha.”
Bellarf let out a derisive laugh.
“A weirdo brought another weirdo.”
That was the first impression of the Knight Commander when he saw her.