I Quit Being a Priest

My vision was blurry. Except for when creating a new body, had I ever scattered holy power so vastly?
I don’t know. At least the wound inflicted by the incoming sword strike was quite painful.
While some of the other spell formulas could be converted back to holy power after the battle, the flames of holy power just scatter and disappear.
Moreover, the holy power consumed is so vast that it’s far too inefficient to use simply as an attack technique.
However, I was the unfortunate individual who couldn’t attack at all without using such inefficient methods.
“…”
As I looked at the red blood seeping from the cut wound, I heard a loud noise from behind.
“Unni!!! That was so cool, really! What is this, were you pretending to be a loser until now!?”
“…No, I wasn’t.”
When I turned my gaze backward, I saw Elly. I thought I had seen her sitting in the spectator seats, but it seemed like she had jumped down from there.
“More importantly, move away a bit… your clothes are getting stained with my blood.”
“Huh? Oh, that’s true? It’s okay, magic laundry is quick!”
“No, not your clothes, my blood is precious, so move away.”
“Ah…”
How precious do you think it is?
I pushed away Elly, who was making a stupid expression, with a bit of force. The wound, slashed from the left chest to the abdomen in a large diagonal, was not shallow.
Therefore, I brought my left hand to that wound. The holy power in that hand was warm.
Though I couldn’t properly feel that warmth since it was holy power created from my body, the feeling of light seeping in as the wound instantly healed wasn’t so bad.
Commander Bellarf had just officially declared my victory. The cheers erupting from the spectator seats were incessant, and amidst those cheers, Bellarf slowly walked towards me.
“You… defeated Edwin.”
He showed a faint smile, which really didn’t suit him. Then, he extended his right hand towards me as if requesting a handshake.
“I’ve been watching your actions from afar during this past week. You were surprisingly diligent with the given tasks.”
“Well, I’m used to that kind of work…”
I grabbed Bellarf’s hand. It was a rough hand with many scars. Even just lightly holding it, I could already feel numerous scars, both large and small.
Is this what it takes to become a commander leading the Knight Order at a young age?
“Recently, the villages around here, including the Central City, have been in chaos. You probably know roughly about it. In such a situation…”
Bellarf added, looking directly into my eyes.
“In such a situation, can I trust you?”
“If you’ll accept a wandering traveler with nowhere to go.”
I had grown somewhat attached to the Knight Order, having stayed for a week. After leaving Karnel’s party, I had been feeling empty in a corner of my heart.
Therefore,
I wanted to belong somewhere now. I wanted to be of the same affiliation and mingle with others.
No, actually,
I didn’t want to be abandoned. I, too, didn’t like the situation of being shunned by everyone and eventually left alone.
“Commander Bellarf.”
Would they recognize my existence here? Would they acknowledge my abilities?
Perhaps they would treat me as a person, not as a bug?
“I have many flaws in various ways. I can’t even make proper attacks, and the only thing I’m good at is spreading barriers.”
Even though I was eventually abandoned as useless by the party…
“Would you still accept someone like me…?”
To that careful question, Bellarf answered by gripping my hand more firmly.
“…”
Heavy silence sometimes means affirmation. This was just such a situation.
Ah. It might not be so bad after all.
While I was indulging in unnecessary sentiments, Bellarf opened his mouth, releasing my hand.
“By the way, Illia, you were a priest, right?”
“I was a priest?”
Though I’ve now quit that priest life.
“Then, I’m sorry, but could you treat Edwin’s wounds?”
“…Ah.”
“I apologize on Edwin’s behalf for what he did to you. Though he’s a bit stubborn, he’s not bad by nature.”
“Th-that…”
I’m fucked. I can’t give healing.
“At a time when each and every personnel is important, we can’t afford any more vacancies. I’m asking despite the imposition.”
“I guess I have no choice…”
Of course, if I deactivated my unique magic, I could infuse others with the miracles of holy power as before.
However, to reactivate the deactivated unique magic required a 3-day cooldown.
In other words, I become weak for 3 days. While in the past, I had to care more for others than myself, things were a bit different now.
The demerit of my power being weakened was greater than not being able to perform miracles for others.
Then,
-Bite.
There was a way to heal others without deactivating my unique magic, though it wasn’t completely without drawbacks.
I bit my thumb with my canine tooth, then slowly walked towards Edwin, who had lost consciousness while kneeling.
Red blood flowed from the bitten wound. Though I thought it was a bit wasteful to give it to him, it’s just a few drops.
“Ugh…”
I inserted my bleeding finger into the unconscious Edwin’s mouth. Since the blood had to flow down his throat, I put it in quite deep.
After letting a bit more blood flow in, I recited a short prayer. The highest-grade holy spell that bestows protection in return for a sacrifice.
Let me state here that the power to bestow the Sun God’s protection upon others wasn’t something just anyone could do.
Even I took a long time to master it.
When I bestowed a faint protection upon Edwin, the wounds on his body began to slowly heal.
The wounds inflicted by the sword healed, and the burns from the holy power were erased.
“It’s done. He’ll probably be fine by this afternoon.”

“Thank you.”
Bellarf bowed his head to express gratitude to me. Actually, those were wounds I had inflicted, and then I was healing them, so it felt a bit strange.
It wasn’t particularly something to be thanked for.
More than that, the finger I had inserted into Edwin’s mouth felt a bit unpleasant.
I wiped Edwin’s saliva on Elly’s clothes, who had been watching the entire scene from the side.
“Ah, damn! Why are you wiping it on me!”
“Why not? You said magic laundry is quick.”
“This is different from that!”
It’s not like it stains differently from my blood, so why make such a fuss?
With the fuming Elly, today’s duel seemed to come to a complete end.

Having finished the duel, I was now in the room officially assigned to me. If the room I had been using before was just an office for processing documents, this was a real room.
A slightly fluffier bed, a slightly larger bathroom, and most importantly, a lock to secure the door.
Today had been tiring in many ways. It was also the first time I had engaged in such an intense battle.
Honestly, I wanted to lie on the bed and rest right away, but my clothes were damp with sweat, making me feel uncomfortable.
After moving my body so much, I should wash up.
“…”
I removed the clothes I was wearing one by one and placed them on the floor. And as I entered the bathroom, a snow-white naked body was reflected in the mirror.
Although it was a sight I had seen several times already, it was still a scene I wasn’t used to.
A woman’s naked body that I had no chance to see before leaving the party. I never imagined I’d see it like this, but thinking that it was my appearance, far from being sexually excited, it only made me sigh.
I might not be aware at other times, but when washing my body or using the bathroom, I can’t help but feel that my body has changed.
The sentiment of having turned into a female body overnight wasn’t very pleasant.
Just the sense of what should be there is missing, and what shouldn’t be there is emphasized a bit more, making it somewhat awkward.
-Shoosh.
Having entered the bathroom, I turned on the shower and met the warm water pouring down.
The right temperature, exactly between warmth and heat. Though others might feel it’s a bit hot, I liked this temperature.
When my body was heated by hot water, at least for that moment, I could escape from complicated thoughts and focus only on the act of washing my body.
I picked up the soap placed in the bathroom and soaped my body. I covered the snow-white flesh, which was a bit extreme to call my body, with even whiter foam.
“…Ah.”
They’re bigger than I thought.
Is what you see with your eyes different from the actual size?
I had felt it when I first wore underwear, but my chest was on the larger side than I had thought.
Of course, it wasn’t a size that would stand out when viewed with the eyes, but if I were to measure just the size with clothes off, it would be slightly above average.
“Oh my…”
I had tried to dispel negative thoughts by covering my entire body with foam, but this was counterproductive.
Something I hadn’t been conscious of until just now was now bothering me too much.
“…”
Recently, it had become a daily routine to wash my body after returning home sweaty, but today, the act of washing felt particularly long.