“Hey, have you heard? There’s a new urban legend spreading in the capital recently.” In a breakfast sandwich shop, two regular customers were chatting idly.

“What kind of legend this time? These kinds of tales are usually fake. Locals in the capital have never heard of them; it’s always those from out of town spreading them.”

“Last time, they were talking about a headless knight from an ancient battlefield wandering the outskirts, trying to find his head. I’m out there every day supervising my workers loading goods.”

“I haven’t seen any headless knights, but headless laborers are everywhere, can’t even load goods properly,” the other customer joked.

“This time it’s not just a rumor, people have actually seen it. They say that headless knight finally found his head, so now, following his behavior in life, he’s patrolling inside the city instead of the outskirts, often mixing in with the capital’s guards. Sometimes the guards don’t even notice there’s an imposter among them,” the first man said mysteriously, seeing his friend’s disbelief.

“Come on, another unverifiable legend. If so many people have seen it, why don’t you tell me what this headless knight who found his head looks like?”

“How would anyone know? The knight is obviously wearing armor; how can you tell what he looks like?”

“So you’re saying nothing then? An ancient battlefield headless knight? People have too much time on their hands, adding sensational twists to trivial matters without any basis. Probably some newspaper with nothing better to do.”

“Besides, how do they know it’s a knight from an ancient battlefield? Did he have a label on his head?”

“It’s simple, by the armor. The knight isn’t wearing the capital guards’ armor, nor the Wrathful Dragon Knights’ armor. Someone recognized it as armor from the ancient empire… Isn’t that eerie?”

“Sounds more and more far-fetched,” the skeptic shook his head, then suddenly paused and pointed ahead.

“Does the ancient empire armor you mentioned look like that?”

“Eh, yes! Just like they described, it should be… uh?”

Accompanied by a morning breeze, a shiny, scaly-armored figure jogged past them under the sunlight, as casually as any ordinary passerby.

He also carried something tightly wrapped in cloth on his back, resembling a scroll.

“………”

The two men looked at each other, speechless.

“Phew…” On the other side, the armored man stopped jogging, slightly bent over, catching his breath.

Indeed, the so-called headless knight from the ancient battlefield, recently a hot topic in the capital, was actually Winnie, who had no idea he had become an urban legend.

After all, there’s no rule against jogging in armor, right?

As usual, after his morning jog, Winnie returned home for a hot bath.

Normally, his baths didn’t take half an hour, but this time he spent two hours.

Why so long? Because he didn’t want to turn into Vanessa later and risk messing up important matters due to her obsessive cleanliness.

This was really tough for him.

Just looking at the array of colorful bath products he bought last time gave him a headache.

What are all these? He hadn’t paid attention to what each of these rainbow-colored lotions and potions were for.

Strange, why did he know exactly what each was for when he was Vanessa?

Fortunately, before turning back, he had organized all these bath and care products by function and usage area, so Winnie just needed to use them in order, a foolproof method.

Somehow, Winnie felt a subtle sensation, like a wife preparing everything before leaving, leaving notes like ‘food is on the table’, ‘money is in the cabinet’ for her careless husband.

If only Vanessa wasn’t him, but his wife.

…No, that’s too creepy!

Winnie shook his head, experiencing a bit of refined life for the first time.

Hmm, so refined it made him feel like a pampered noble lady.

But I digress.

After the bath, looking at himself in the mirror, Winnie wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but his skin seemed paler and smoother than before.

His skin used to be dry and malnourished.

Gazing at the somewhat delicate, moon-blue-haired youth in the mirror, he wasn’t sure if it was really him.

His looks had improved significantly from the unremarkable, freckled youth to quite handsome.

Are these care products that effective?

Or is this also an effect of his bloodline awakening?

He felt that since his bloodline awakened, his previously neglected body had been continuously nurtured by the goddess’s blood.

Caressing his cheek, Winnie felt that over time, his skin and looks would improve even more.

Becoming paler and more handsome was desirable, but he hoped it wouldn’t go too far.

If it went overboard, it would shift from ‘handsome’ to ‘girly’.

After changing into clean clothes and packing up, Winnie slung the cloth bundle over his shoulder, took his wallet and some dry bread, and left home.

As usual, he didn’t lock the door, as there was really nothing worth stealing in his house.

Counting the days, in a few more days, the event of Aesphyra slaying those low-level demons would occur.

Winnie still remembered the location of that forest, roughly southeast of the town of Orel, definitely in that area.

Orel town is on the border of the Camella Kingdom, separated from the demon territory by a river that flows into the sea.

That river is the boundary between the demons and the light races.

In the game, the narrative described that those demons had been searching for something in that forest for a long time, presumably they had been searching there long before Aesphyra arrived.

Originally, Winnie could have timed his arrival, but considering Aesphyra is a regressed person who knows the plot developments unknown to others, she might also take similar actions.

Therefore, Winnie decided to go a few days earlier to further reduce the chance of encountering Aesphyra.

Just a few demon minions, better to deal with them quickly.

To ensure he wasn’t being followed, Winnie kept changing his route on the way, using a few small ‘diversions’ to confirm no one was tailing him before heading to the capital’s post station.

For efficiency, Winnie took the most expensive express magic luxury carriage, a luxury he never dared to dream of before.

Leisurely leaning on the soft cushions, in a private compartment, with meals personally delivered, the service was quite upscale.

After all, you get what you pay for, and the ticket for this carriage was beyond the reach of ordinary people.

Winnie remembered riding a carriage as a child, and it was so bumpy, especially on mountain roads, it shook so much it hurt your butt, nearly giving him a phobia of carriage rides.

Expensive indeed has its merits.

The carriage, reinforced with enchantments for shock absorption, greatly reduced the bumps.

The compartment was more luxuriously decorated than his home, meals included, and the environment was quiet.

Apart from the sound of the carriage, you could occasionally hear faint footsteps and conversations inside, everyone deliberately speaking softly.

It’s not realistic to live here forever, but if he could stay a few more days, Winnie would certainly be delighted.

Just that his wallet couldn’t handle it.

Unlike those ordinary carriages with hard benches and cramped spaces that made every minute an ordeal, like sardines in a can, just hoping time would pass quickly to reach the destination.

In a high-end luxury carriage, time seemed to fly, and in the blink of an eye, a day and a half had passed, and Winnie arrived in Orel town.

Slinging the cloth bundle over his shoulder, Winnie stepped off the carriage.