I Quit Being a Priest

This was the meeting room.
Seeing that I was allowed inside the meeting room, I thought perhaps I was now a proper member, but I was currently immersed in a very awkward atmosphere.
Edwin, whose heaviness could be felt just by looking, and Commander Bellarf, who as always, exuded seriousness.
And Elly, who was staring elsewhere and spacing out rather than focusing on the conversation.
For now, I knew the names of those three, and the rest were all strangers to me.
How is it that every face looks sharp?
Being among people who all look like they would be hostile at first glance, the atmosphere was so heavy that I couldn’t utter proper words, even though it had been quite some time since the meeting started.
And after I had been just gauging the atmosphere for a while longer, the topic I had been waiting for came up a bit later.
“Speaking of which, I heard that holy spellcasters are frequently being kidnapped in this area. It’s a case where reports have been incessant recently.”
Bellarf said, placing a thick pile of documents on the desk.
“And as far as I know, Elly was the one who was supposed to take on this case.”
His gaze turned to Elly.
“How is that investigation going, Elly?”
“Well… I’ve been investigating diligently, but! It seems to be too much for me alone!”
Elly answered energetically as if introducing herself, but unlike her bright voice, the words coming out of her mouth weren’t so positive.
Therefore, Bellarf sighed and swept his eyes over everyone present.
He was probably looking for someone to pair with Elly.
“Um…”
And I carefully raised my hand, seizing the opportunity.

“If it’s okay, could I go? As someone who handles holy power, this seems like an issue related to me too. I can probably be of considerable help in gathering clues.”
“Indeed…”
For issues related to holy power, I was more qualified than anyone else present.
Holy power is hard for others to see and thus difficult to track, but it was all too visible to me.
“Alright. I’ll trust you with this.”
Bellarf nodded as if somewhat convinced by my words.
Having successfully secured my first mission, I cheered inwardly.
Hurray!

It was my first time outside the Knight Order in a week. The streets of the Central City were as peaceful as ever, and the outside environment, which I hadn’t seen in a while, seemed to shine so brightly it dazzled my eyes.
The sunlight felt particularly warmer, and the flowers that bloomed on the streets decorated our path more beautifully.
“It’s been a while since we walked together like this, right? Hasn’t it!”
“Uh… yeah, sure.”
If only it wasn’t Elly next to me, I would have felt even better.
I had thought the mission would involve leading multiple subordinates to patrol neighborhoods like the back alleys, but following Elly’s opinion that too many numbers would stand out and make the investigation difficult, we had taken up positions as a pair of 2.
And what we were doing with that setup was wandering the streets without a proper destination.
“…Come to think of it, what happened to Dialo, the one I caught back then? You said you were going to interrogate him then.”
Walking with Elly, I suddenly remembered that incident and voiced it. After all, I was the one who captured him, but nothing had been told to me afterward.
“Ah… That?”
However, as I mentioned it, Elly frowned slightly. As if she had recalled an unpleasant memory.
“When I tried to interrogate him, he had already melted. He had distorted into a bizarre form like black mud…?”
“A person just melted like that?”
“Yes. His subordinates all died for the same reason too.”
Could it be the horrific remnants of human experimentation? It’s hard to believe, but it doesn’t seem like Elly is lying either.
“So, in the end, there was no harvest?”
“No, there was, but.”
“But?”
“Ah, wait a moment.”
Elly rummaged through her backpack for a moment, searching for something. Then, she pulled out a black orb that emitted an ominous aura and handed it to me.
“This came from the leader’s body, but no matter how I look at it, I can’t tell what material it’s made of…”
I immediately knew what material the orb she handed me was. I couldn’t not know.
This is…
“It’s holy power.”
“Eh? Is it?”
Though the concentration had weakened a bit, it was indeed holy power. As proof, the holy power inside the orb faintly resonated with my holy power the moment it was gripped in my hand.
Unlike mana, holy power is difficult for ordinary people to detect. Especially when the concentration is this diluted, it would be hard to find without being a truly skilled magician.
“Then, as expected, are they kidnapping holy spellcasters to create something?”
“Have you heard the saying that the body of one who possesses holy power is like a treasure?”
“I-I have…”
“Holy power is fundamentally a substance that contains a vast amount of life force. Now, if someone could produce that substance within their body, what do you think that person’s body would be like?”
Elly pondered my question, propping her chin. However, her thinking didn’t reach the answer. Even after I waited a bit longer, she couldn’t come up with a proper answer.
So, unable to wait any longer, I finally gave the answer.
“The body holds an enormous life force. Parts of the body where holy power circulates are traded at astronomical prices as top-grade materials for alchemists, and blood, which contains holy power intact, can breathe life into others.”
“Then, what unni did to Senior Edwin yesterday too?”
“That… was a holy spell that bestows the Sun God’s protection, but the principle is the same.”
This is also why holy power is called a blessed power, but I’m not sure if a power that’s so easily exploited by others is truly a blessed power.
After all, I, the very person who possesses it, only find it uncomfortable.
“Ah… It was good to come with unni after all. I don’t know anything about holy power. Without Illia unni, I might have wandered the streets for days without a harvest.”
“Yeah, but.”
I stopped walking, interrupting my conversation. When I thought about it, we didn’t have a destination.
“Where are we going?”
“Huh? I was following unni?”
“I was following you.”
This is really driving me crazy.

**

Eventually, we stopped by a nearby café to have a thorough conversation and decide on a destination.
Since I was getting thirsty, I ordered two cups of coffee and sat in a corner where people rarely pass by.
I also preferred not to have unnecessary information leaking out.
I spread holy power around to create a transparent sound barrier. At least, sounds wouldn’t leak out from here.
“So, where are we going? I was planning to patrol the back alleys as usual today.”
“Is that your daily routine?”
“I thought if I kept going around, I’d find something.”
“Haah… Right. What should I expect from you?”
Truly, when I look at Elly, I sometimes genuinely get confused about whether she’s smart or dumb.
She seems really foolish when you see her like this, but strangely, her discernment is freakishly quick.
“Let’s go through things one by one. What information do we have?”
“That the opponent is crazily collecting things related to holy power and doing weird experiments, and that the organization is so large we can’t gauge its scale…?”
“You’re using your brain for once. Then, based on that information, who do you think is the most at-risk individual right now?”
These are organizations crazily collecting things related to holy power. So, what would they want the most?
I asked Elly again. I could have told her the answer directly, but having her find the answer herself would make it easier to explain later.
“Let’s see… Probably someone who has a lot of holy power… Illia unni?”
“No, that’s right, but there’s someone far more famous than me.”
The treasure of the Central Church and the being who received the authority of the Sun God most deeply. Literally, a living embodiment of value.
“Do you perhaps mean the Saint? But the Central Church has extremely tight security?”
“These are guys who have already attacked entire churches. What can’t they do?”
Her value transcends imagination. Even I couldn’t match the authority that only she could exercise.
If it’s a person of the caliber of this era’s Saint, who might appear once in 100 years, wouldn’t they want her enough to make their eyes roll back?
Moreover, unlike me, she didn’t even have the power to protect herself. She would be perfect for kidnapping.
“Of course, it’s just a baseless conjecture. But that’s what I would do. What do you think?”
“Uh… at least it has a higher possibility than wandering the back alleys, right?”
I guess so. What would come out by searching a dilapidated slum?
“For now, let’s focus our investigation around the Central Church. It’s better than doing nothing, right?”