The Priest Wants to Retire

〈 63화 〉 Stalemate

*

The intense whoosh of professional wrestlers locked in a hand-grip in the center of the ring flashed in Do-yeon’s mind.

“Hero! What are you doing right now?”

“Huh? I was about to take off my shirt?”

I managed to stop the Hero’s motion of raising the bottom of his shirt high into the air by the skin of my teeth.

But the difference in strength between us was glaringly obvious.

It was clear that this stalemate wouldn’t last long before it broke down in an unfavorable direction.

“Why?”

A question so pure it felt like it came from his very soul.

However, all the Hero gave me as a reply was a slight tilt of his head, a hint of confusion showing in his gesture.

“Heh! Was it better to take off the pants first instead?”

“N-no, that’s not it…”

In an instant, the Hero’s hand, which had been grasping his shirt, shifted toward his own pants.

Thanks to that, my left hand, which had been resting on top of his, naturally moved toward his lower body as well.

“W-wait!”

I tried to quickly pull my hand back, but this time, he gripped my hand.

In the end, my left hand got stuck right by his waist, unable to move at all.

“Ah! That’s what it is! You wanted to undress me directly!”

“W-wait! Just a moment, Hero!”

Even when I tried to create some distance, the Hero’s position was pinning my body down, leaving me no room to budge.

Sure, it wasn’t overwhelmingly heavy.

But.

The Hero’s superhuman strength refined by magic completely restrained my freedom without any effort at all.

“I’ve heard that typical adult men get incredibly happy when women show their skin! I thought you, Priest, didn’t have such desires! How wrong I was! Please forgive me! Priest! I’m quite proud of my body!”

The bubbly tone and rapid breaths made it clear she was in a state of heightened excitement.

“Hero… Who on earth said such a thing…”

What sort of scoundrel had filled this innocent girl, who until recently thought babies hatched from eggs, with such brazen knowledge?

At that moment, overwhelmed by a mix of confusion and anger, my hands and lips trembled.

“I learned it by self-study from books!”

“Huh?”

“With Apis, Dawna, and even Bigtim! For some reason, every time I wanted to read those kinds of books, they kept interfering! It was so hard to gain that knowledge! But I overcame those obstacles! I’ve learned about sex! As an adult! As a Hero!”

“Ah…”

Since she always learned and absorbed new knowledge at an extraordinary pace, my party members and I had to be cautious whenever the time came to teach the Hero about such things.

When the information reached the Hero’s ears that beastmen and elves experience heat cycles, while human men are in a constant state, I found myself repeatedly humiliated because the Hero would loudly ask if I was in heat whenever I tried to do anything.

That was why I had to pretend that priests had no sexual desires.

Even now, thinking back to that time makes my face flush.

Whenever I tried to talk to a girl, the Hero would charge at me like a wild boar, shouting, “Priest, you can’t be in heat!”

“Hero, can you calm down a little?”

“Yes! I’ll calm down a bit!”

The Hero, with her hands pressed together over my chest, seemed to be eagerly awaiting me to take off her clothes.

With a heavy voice that dampened the festive mood, I tried to get her to steady herself.

“Hero, do you know where we are right now?”

“Yes! It’s a dungeon!”

“That’s correct. So, do you remember how you ended up here?”

“I don’t remember! I encountered a suspicious person who kept changing their appearance! When I regained my senses, I found myself thrown into this dark place! Huh! What about my comrades?! Are they all safe?!”

“Yes, luckily they’re all fine! And thanks to quick actions, there shouldn’t be any lasting effects on their lives either.”

“That’s a relief! Truly a relief!”

“So, what happened next?”

“As I lost my fighting spirit to the mental attack of those black figures resembling the priest, I was helplessly captured in a state that hardly be called a Hero! Then suddenly, the real priest appeared and saved me from that crisis!”

“I see. Then it’s clear we don’t have the luxury of time to dawdle here…”

“So, when will you be taking off my clothes?”

I was wrong.

She wasn’t listening.

When her blood rushed to her head, she wouldn’t comprehend what others were saying.

I was still caught up in such trivial thoughts when the seriousness of the situation did not register with me.

“C-could it be… You’re not feeling any attraction towards my body…?”

“Huh?”

Where had her previous confidence gone?

Suddenly, a damp sense of unease crept into the Hero’s voice as she asked me.

“Priest, you’re not excited by my body…?”

Tears welling in her eyes showed no sign of stopping.

She looked like a small boat tossed among raging waves, so beautiful yet plagued by an unstable emotional state.

The image of the Saintess I met not long ago floated into my mind.

At that moment.

The Hero, shaking off the ominous white aura, appeared to regain her former brilliance. At the tips of her golden hair, I witnessed a sacred white ripple stirring back to life.

“H-Hero!”

“Am I not an attractive woman to you, Priest…?”

The malevolent holy power that had seeped into the Hero’s pure being was once again filling her body with that ominous movement.

“I’m excited! Super excited!”

A false confession I blurted out in a rush to dispel the crisis.

A bright red lie.

But it couldn’t be helped.

It wasn’t rare for adventurers who had faced death together to develop feelings for one another.

Yet, in our party, there was hardly any room for those feelings to even budge.

Perhaps if it were the early days of establishing the party, it would’ve been different.

But now, I had long lost the ability to feel anything upon seeing the naked bodies of old comrades.

Let alone. There was no way I could view the Hero, of all people, in such a manner.

I could very well recognize that she was one of the most beautiful women among all the humans I had encountered.

Yet, feeling sexual excitement was an entirely different matter.

To me, she was someone to protect.

A sister. Or even a niece-like presence, a cherished being akin to family.

“R-really…?”

Right after I had delivered my false confession, the movement of the holy power burrowing into the Hero began to slow once more.

It seemed that this intrusion of holy power heavily influenced the Hero’s emotional state.

Then,

it would be my foremost duty now to soothe the Hero’s heart, allowing her to maintain her composure.

“O-of course! There’s nowhere else in the whole world more attractive than you, Hero! Any average man would be dying to make you his partner!”

“Hehe…”

The Hero smiled bashfully at my flattery.

Though it was empty flattery, I wasn’t lying entirely.

From an objective standpoint, there were hardly any people as diligent as the Hero in this system.

Taking into account her slightly loud voice and excessive honesty, she had looks, skills, and character beyond reproach.

She was truly first-rate eye candy.

“So! Can you specifically explain which parts of me are sexually attractive?”

Ah, there was one flaw I couldn’t ignore.

This child. She was so blunt that she had no idea how to say things indirectly.

“Which part of my body turns you on! Please, specifically! One by one!”

“……”

Mother.

*