I no longer waste time in the palace and keep my pace brisk until I can get out.

I see the edge of the corridors. There are two strong-looking guards there. I know the King said that they would let me pass, but getting in and out through the front door isn't my style.

Or rather, I want to see how far this body is capable of. Living as human for 23 years and suddenly getting a new body is pretty exhilarating.

...No, it's not sudden, I lived roughly the same amount of time here in this body too. I just missed my human life. New food products and cake shops appearing in the market every so often, new anime and light novel to enjoy, hectic school life filled with fun club stuffs, job hunting with my drinking buddies, tasting alcohol for the first time in my life (and not liking it), having so many goals in life...

...Goals that I can't achieve now, eh?

Nevermind, let's just go to that estate first. I can't wait to take a bath.

With that in mind, I look up to the sun and determine the direction I need to take to leave this place. Hoping that there's no illusion array to confuse a trespasser, I decide on a wall and take a leap.

My body feels light...!

My back still feels sore, but my arms have been better compared to when I just woke up. I think if my back is fully healed, I can make a spin in the middle of the air. Heh, I'd like to try that.

I land on a tree branch, but I miscalculate the force that I take, which is why I'm falling to the ground now. As if! I quickly hold the branch with both hands and tame down the force by making a whirl, and safely land on the branch.

"Phew..."

All right, this feels solid enough to jump to another place, right?

I wonder if I can jump from tree to tree like those ninja anime. With this kind of body, I can try doing some parkour, which will be awesome. It has been my dream to try parkour, though I love my daily anime fix more than trying this out, so I never got the chance to. In the world where I highly doubt anime exist, I can try anything I want.

Yeah.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Yue will probably be delighted too. She doesn't show much enthusiasm in anything, but when I get it right, she expresses her delight more freely than me. If only she's here.

...

Okay, there's no time to ponder about that, let's just go back to that estate.

With that in mind, I take a leap and control myself better to not fall from the branch. Before the tree gets less frequent, I can already jump to that tree without disturbing a single leaf to fall.

This body is amazing. I'll probably miss it once I turn back to human... If that's how it works, passing through that dimension gate. Or maybe, since I'm dead in the my world, I get to use this body? The pointy ears will be quite hard to explain, especially because it's wide to the side like proper elves...

...But that's some mundane problems to be worried about later on.

I look at the street, and there are people making way, mostly to the commerce area. I'd like to go there for my magic spatial ring later on, but this time, let's take the other route.

I wear my hood and continue the travel. Not long after, I find the way back to the estate from the main road. It leads me towards the bridge that I saw yesterday, but I run past it, jump up to the tree of the nearest wall to my room, and safely enter the vicinity of the estate.

"Yesterday, there seems to be an incident in the river."

"I know, I was one of the guards that our Lord sent to check the place, but we could only find a pool of blood, and no body left."

"That's eerie... Is it the work of spirits?"

"No way!"

I can hear the conversation of several human guards, patrolling the area. Quickly, I leap down from the wall and hide in one of the bushes in the inner courtyard. Just in time to see they make a turn towards this place.

Huh, that pool of blood should have been mine. Did I bleed that much? No wonder I scared the crown prince off.

I silently wait there until the guards pass. One of the three pauses and looks in the wall's direction, though. Did I leave some foot prints to the stone wall? I sure hope not.

"Who's there!?"

The guard who notices my presence signals the other two to follow him. He points his slender sword at me, showing the flexibility of a swashbuckler, whereas the other two are more stiff and standardized.

I sigh and get out of the bush, raising my hands. "It's me, don't attack," I say, revealing myself to the guards.

His eyes widen before sighing. "Haiz, young master. This is not your usual time of the day to sneak around. Please consider using the front gate, for our Lord's sake..."

I shift my eyes away. That's not something I can do. It's my place, and at the same time, it's not. No matter how much my father acknowledges me, or how similar I am to him, I'm still not supposed to be here.

"I know, I know. Anyhow, can you help me tell the maids to prepare the bath?" I ask, walking in their direction.

"...That hugeass bath?" one of the guards asks.

"Shush!"

The swashbuckler guard says, "As per your request, they're always prepared in the morning and evening. The water is still hot by this time, I'm sure."

I nod and wave to him. "Thanks."

I don't bother to ask for his name, but I'm sure I'll remember his ginger hair and freckled face.

Running to my bedroom, I gather a new change of clothes and a towel before heading off to the bath.

•°•°•°•°•