I Quit Being a Priest

What kind of recognition and treatment would a priest typically receive in this world?
Of course, most people who hear this question would say they don’t know. Because they haven’t experienced it directly.
It’s that position where you stay in the back, adding little bits of healing and buffs while everyone else goes to the front lines to fight.
Certainly, priests were indispensable on the battlefield. That’s why it used to be one of the professions treated like royalty.
But that was only temporary. As time passed, the abilities of various professions became more standardized, and their range of capabilities widened, resulting in an increasing number of people who could substitute a priest’s healing abilities.
Thanks to that, the image of priests, no, our image, became rooted in the rather unfavorable perception of being mere healing dispensers or buff dispensers on the battlefield.
That’s all we had in the end.
But still, it was okay. Even if everyone called me by such derogatory terms and hurled insults too horrible to repeat, I was certain that at least my companions would believe in me.
But was it because I was so certain? The betrayal I felt was only multiplied by how much I had trusted them.
“Hey, you know what? I don’t think it’s fair for Illis to take an equal quarter share of the party’s earnings.”
Iris Seleine, the valedictorian of the Battle Magic Department and a genius mage who incinerated enemies with overwhelming firepower, said so.
“Iris is right. Honestly, I can also do healing and buffs, but I deliberately took a position that fills the party’s firepower to accommodate you.”
Yuria, a spirit user who could handle the power of spirits, from basic elemental magic to providing healing or buffs to support the party, and unlike me, was also equipped with high-powered attack capabilities, glared at me and agreed with Iris.
I remained silent. Was it because I couldn’t refute her words, or because it was true that I was weak?
Their words weren’t wrong. I didn’t have the means to produce as much firepower as they did, and my combat contribution to the party was the lowest.
But that doesn’t mean I was such a hindrance that I didn’t even deserve a quarter share of the party.
Yuria’s healing wasn’t enough to perfectly protect Karnel who was at the front lines. Also, though they might not have known, I was the one who cast debuffs on enemies to make battles easier.
And just look at what happened now – even in the recent battle with the shell dragon, if I hadn’t laid down fire resistance buffs in advance, the party would have been wiped out.
So, believe it or not, I had fulfilled my role beyond the position of this job, performing the work of one person in a four-person party, or perhaps even more.
This situation was unfair. Severely so.
“…No matter what, don’t you think you’re going too far? I poured everything I could into this. Healing, buffs, and everything else.”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying – I can replace what you can do.”
Yuria had often expressed her dissatisfaction with me on this issue. Well, because of my presence, she had no occasion to summon her healing spirits.
But that was purely because Yuria’s capabilities were lacking. To be honest, her healing amount was nowhere near enough to take care of all four members of the party.
I didn’t explicitly say that, but seeing her attitude now, it seemed necessary to expose the truth one by one.
I had my own complaints about her, after all.
“Come on, everyone calm down.”
“…Karnel. Do you think this situation is normal? Do you honestly think it’s right to suggest reducing my share in a four-person party?”
I shook my head in disbelief and glared at Karnel. If it was Karnel, he would surely understand my position. After all, he was the one with relatively normal thinking in the party.
“Hmm… But honestly, it’s true that Illis contributes less, so it’s understandable that two people are expressing their dissatisfaction. So how about we resolve this by dividing Illis’s share a little and giving some to those two for this shell dragon subjugation reward?”
I was speechless. It felt like I was betrayed by the person I trusted most.
Of course, his voice hinted at an intention not to take sides but to resolve the conflict by calming down the two people with nasty personalities, but it still felt bad.
“This frustrating bastard…”
This was Karnel’s problem. He wasn’t bad-natured, but he was also simultaneously dense, not properly understanding what the issue was, and sometimes watching him from the side made me feel an inexplicable anger.
Of course, I could share the reward as much as they wanted. I didn’t join this party for money.
But what truly angered me was that even those I believed wouldn’t really be against me were secretly seeing me as a pathetic pushover.
“Fine. Take it all, you fucking shitty bastards.”
“Hey, watch your mouth! We took in a worthless insect with nowhere to go, and now you’re getting uppity?”
Iris – this woman was always the most disgusting, living in her own self-importance, spouting shit from her mouth without any tact, even when Karnel, who was essentially the party leader, was keeping quiet.
That behavior, as if she was something special.
Certainly, Iris’s combat abilities were admirable. The title of valedictorian from the Battle Magic Department wasn’t just hype; she could pour out incomparable firepower from the back line, provided she had Karnel’s protection.
But conversely, that was all she had. A pitiful individual power that would instantly become defenseless without the protection of the front line.
In fact, in one-on-one situations, Yuria, who could freely change her tactics depending on the situation, would be far more troublesome.
Normally, I would have already lowered my head and accommodated her mood, but I planned to stop that as of today.
“Iris, you’re good in many ways, but your personality is the problem. Look at earlier. You boasted that you could take it down in one go if I just bought you time, but in the end, only Karnel, who drew aggro, and I, who cleaned up the mess, had to work our asses off.”
“Y-you… Are you done talking?”
“See? Even now, just because you’re a little upset, you’re already gathering mana. What, do you want to try something here?”
“Illis… You’ve finally gone crazy?”
Iris pointed her staff at me with a deeply furrowed brow. It’s true that I might lose to her in terms of raw power.
But now I had something I could rely on. A somewhat dense but overwhelming one-on-one fighter.
“Stop it, Iris. You’re too excited.”
“Karnel…! You too!”
As I expected, Karnel immediately grabbed Iris’s wrist, restricting her intended action.
Whether Iris wasn’t crazy enough to shake off Karnel’s hand and attack me or not, she grumbled and dissipated the mana she had gathered into the air.
“Fine, since it’s come to this, let’s expose everything, you fucking bitches.”
And I seized the opportunity to run my mouth.

“Yuria, you’re always whining that healing and buffs are things you can do too, but instead of talking, why don’t you actually provide some support? To be honest, your capabilities are limited, and you’re just taking out your frustration on me because you’re annoyed. Am I wrong?”
“Huh, and what have you done to speak so proudly? Honestly, it’s true that you’ve contributed the least to the party.”
No, her words were wrong. It might not be obvious on the surface, but my contributions to this party, though not as much as Iris who was essentially the main damage dealer, were definitely higher than Yuria’s, I can assure you.
“Then let me ask you, Yuria. What did you do in the battle just now?”
“T-that…”
Right, you can’t answer, can you? With Yuria’s firepower, she couldn’t even scratch the shell dragon’s skin.
Yuria was versatile in many aspects, but when that range was narrowed down to one thing, her ability itself was unremarkable.
Whether as a healer, dealer, or tank, Yuria could fulfill any role, but in the previous battle, Karnel was the tank and I was the healer, so there was no room for her to intervene.
And trying to support Iris’s firepower as she usually did was futile due to the shell dragon’s high defense.
“I did this. I cast attack buffs so you could penetrate the shell dragon’s skin, and I healed Karnel to help him maintain the front line. Do you think that’s all? If I hadn’t cast fire resistance buffs when the shell dragon was about to breathe fire, you would all be dead already.”
“…”
No, there was actually more. I cast debuffs on the shell dragon to slow its movements and simultaneously reinforced Yuria’s weak barrier to defend against incoming attacks.
Of course, you wouldn’t know. It wasn’t something that showed on the surface. And you’ll never know for the rest of your lives. I’m tired of playing the healer role in this party.
“Illis… I’m sorry. I’ll try to convince these two somehow, so please calm down and listen to me, okay?”
“Karnel, I’m sorry, but I’m sick and tired of putting up with Iris’s constant cursing and Yuria’s whining, so I’m out at this point.”
It was the utter truth without a hint of deception. Until just recently, I thought of them as comrades with whom I had shared life and death, despite their occasional complaints.
Even when Iris and Yuria irritated me, I smiled and let it go, thinking it must be my fault. I didn’t want to dampen the party’s atmosphere.
No, to be precise, I didn’t want to be shunned by them too.
But not anymore. By the time I came to my senses, I had already been shunned by them.
I thought of them as comrades, but they didn’t think of me as one.
That was why I had no lingering attachment to this party.
Because I was completely disillusioned.
I packed my belongings into my backpack. It was a moment when I truly felt like an idiot for thinking those kinds of women were my comrades until just a moment ago.
“Yeah, this party will function perfectly fine without you, so just get lost somewhere.”
“This is why you shouldn’t include people from professions with no foundation like priests! Right, Iris?”
These idiot women, really making a fuss together.
Let’s see if the party really functions well without me.
I turned away from the two who were hurling insults at me and walked away.
In the opposite direction of Luventus, the village that was supposed to be their next destination.
I think Karnel called my name at the end, but I deliberately didn’t listen. I was tired of being caught up in their pace.
Now I don’t even know anymore.