The Priest Wants to Retire

EP.114 Come out, okay?

Is it the backlash from pouring out emotions and actions that don’t suit my body?

My mind and body felt heavy, as if soaked cotton was filling every joint.

I wanted nothing more than to crawl into the cozy confines of my room right now and throw myself onto the plush bed.

But considering the aftershock I would have to face afterwards, that was not a viable option.

“Here I am. Bigtim.”

“·····!”

Right after a languid greeting escaped my lips, Bigtim hurriedly approached me, lost in thought while leaning against the corridor wall.

Just looking at that desperate expression, reminiscent of a rescue helicopter meeting stranded victims, made it clear how long he had been waiting for me.

“Hero! Please, I beg you! Come outside!”

At that moment, our gazes simultaneously turned towards somewhere.

Gathered in front of the firmly closed door, the guests who seemed ready to burst into tears at any second were the servants responsible for attending to the Hero.

“I’m so sorry! Everyone! But please! Just a little longer! It seems like I can attain enlightenment soon!”

“You said the same thing just a few minutes ago! We can’t wait any longer! We have a meeting with the esteemed noble offspring of the system today. We warned you that it must not happen again yesterday!”

It was such a tiring spectacle that I unconsciously brought my hand to my forehead, and as for Bigtim, he already had his hand resting on his eyelids.

“Just how long have they been like this…”

“·····”

Bigtim, hearing my bewildered question, covered his face with one hand and showed me three fingers with the other.

While a sense of despondent admiration for the Hero, who must have been enduring this for three long hours since dawn, sprouted within me, I also felt pangs of sympathy for the servants who had been anxiously waiting during that cursed hour.

“Umm, excuse me everyone…”

“Huuh!?”

Just then, as I tried to say something to them, their attention, which had been fixed tightly on the door, suddenly shifted to me.

“It’s, it’s Priest Regis!”

“Welcome! Priest Regis! We’ve been waiting!”

“Ah, our savior…!”

People were shedding tears of joy.

Some were smiling as if they had the world.

Among them, there were even those solemnly kneeling down, ready to offer me prayers.

“Ahem…”

It was an undeniably awkward situation that made my lips tremble, but I could empathize with their emotions.

After all, I was the only one in this monastery who managed to coax the Hero out of similar situations just yesterday and the day before.

The moment the Hero, who insisted he wouldn’t step outside until he completely shook off the lust residing within him, stepped out cheerfully at my few words was a moment I could vividly recall from their dazed expressions.

“Is, is the Priest here!? Is the Priest by any chance here right now!?”

Suddenly, a trembling voice drifted in from beyond the door, tinged with deep agitation that everyone present knew too well.

“Yes! That’s right! Hero! Right in front of this door is the Priest Regis! What this means is that this reckless resistance of yours is over!”

“Ugh!”

If we stripped the context down, the dialogue could resemble a plot of a superhero show with a villain holding hostages.

The cunning smiles formed by the servants were brimming with excitement, reminiscent of triumphant evil henchmen.

It seemed the frustrations they had endured from the Hero had been unwittingly reflected in their expressions.

Could it really be acceptable for these pious figures in cloaks to be so cunningly gleeful?

I couldn’t easily shake off the questions swirling in my head.

“Hero, the servants are in distress. Please stop playing around and come out quickly.”

“H-Holy Priest…!”

As soon as I spoke those words, I cast a glance at the quietly cheering servants, then hesitantly continued speaking.

The Hero then told me in a frantic tone.

“N-No! Even if it’s the Priest’s request! As the chosen Hero! I absolutely cannot bend this time!”

“Hero…”

Just a few days ago, the assassination incident involving the Hero unfolded.

That day, when the Hero and I shared dreams of our bodies intertwining, it turned out to be an ingenious scheme prepared by an unknown assassin to incapacitate someone like the Hero, who was impervious to ordinary magic.

I still couldn’t pinpoint what was dream and what was reality, but considering that the light of the crystal sphere shone brightly the moment we touched the Crest of Purity, it was clear that there hadn’t been any ‘original episode’ in our case.

Though the flickering light of the crystal when I touched it had piqued my concern to some degree, I guessed it was a trivial error.

Thus, from another perspective, it might even be admirable that the Hero, feeling responsible for that incident, was trying to rectify the weaknesses he didn’t even know he had.

However.

“I won’t move from this spot until I completely control this fiery lust for the Priest!”

That’s just not right.

I could emphatically assert that the Hero was heading in the wrong direction this time.

Swoosh.

It was just then.

Bigtim, who had been sighing with a blurry gaze, subtly handed me something.

Glasses without lenses.

Just a few days ago, I wouldn’t have even imagined their use.

But knowing full well that this was something I would need for the ‘operation’ now, it was inevitable that my already murky thoughts would darken even further.

From deep within my heart, the unwilling feeling surged like lava, but I wasn’t the kind of person who could betray the eager looks digging into my back.

“Sigh… Fine… if I have to… I guess I will…”

I accepted the glasses from Bigtim, with a resigned sigh.

I then undid about three buttons on my tightly fastened collar.

Soon, Bigtim jotted something down on a small piece of paper and gently slipped it through the gap of the door where the Hero was barricaded.

Right after that.

BAM!

The sound of something solid being crushed by immense force echoed from beyond the door.

“Um, excuse me, Priest. If it’s not too much trouble, can I ask just one question?”

“Yes, of course.”

“According to the message I received from Bigtim earlier, you’re currently wearing fashionable glasses. Is that truly the case?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Creeeak—!

Suddenly, the sharp noise made the servants, eyes clenched shut, hurriedly cover their ears.

The sound, like a giant beast scratching at an iron door, was undoubtedly coming from the room where the Hero was holed up.

“I’ve also undone three neck buttons.”

BAM—!

The source of that spine-chilling crashing noise was clear.

It was the iron door of the room where the Hero was hiding.

The central part appeared to bulge out as if struck by a battering ram.

“AHHH…”

If one listened closely, there were occasional groans as well.

“Alright!”

“It’s, it’s working!”

“Priest! Let’s keep pushing!”

I wondered if they were truly aware that their encouraging voices only tormented my heart further.

Though it was regrettable that I didn’t have any other options, who could understand my dreadful feelings of having to seduce a newly adult woman as a mere priest?

“Damn it! Is it still not enough? Hey! Someone bring some other outfits! Butler outfits or harnesses! Maybe even headbands with animal ears!”

“I have some in my room!”

“Bring them! Hurry! Priest! If it’s not too much trouble, can you strike a pose or something?”

These people gleefully plotting to coax the Hero were oblivious.

“I am… I am the Hero! I will not be swayed by petty thoughts! I wield my sword, not for my desires, but to protect the love and peace of this system… as a spirit of justice…!”

Clank. Clank.

Despite that resolute voice, brimming with a determination to fight, the door was stirring open and shut like clams on a grill, clearly indicating how the Hero’s reason was approaching its limit.

“·····”

Just then, Bigtim, with a rigid expression, sent me a small signal.

Now is the time to drive the wedge.

The swift movement felt as majestic and extraordinary as if it were the moment of a dungeon raid.

“Hero! If you come out right now, I’ll give you a bite of breakfast with a nom~!”

BAM!

Right after that, the Hero, bursting through the door, wore an expression full of sunshine, like a sunflower facing the sun.