Luke stumbled a bit as he felt himself change.
The house behind him felt a little taller, something in his hair was a bit itchy, and his trousers seemed to have changed in some way... Then Luke looked down, and immediately noticed what had just happened.
"A... I'm a woman?" Yes, there was no mistaking it. He- or perhaps she?- had longer hair tied into a braid with a flower tied into it, a quite ample bust, a plain-looking brown dress... Nothing too out of the ordinary in a village like this, though obviously quite different from who he normally was.
But why was he... Well, a she? Men were hardly out of place in a village.
Luke's question was answered by a cheap flier, half torn, lying on the ground. "By order of the King, all men of fighting age report to Castle de Norte for a mandatory draft." Of course. A man of twenty years would've had to comply with the draft. "Thank you, Ring... I suppose?" Luke still wasn't comfortable with her transformation, but in all likelihood she'd be able to change herself back as soon as she found that Head. Hopefully HE wasn't drafted.
"...right. Well, here goes." Luke- actually, better to go by... Err, Lucy, they might be suspicious if she called herself Luke- stepped gingerly out from behind the house, into a quiet street.
An oddly quiet street. Where were the people? Lucy had worried that there might be unfriendly locals, understandable after the incident with the pickpocket five days ago, but looking more carefully, there were no locals at all!
That's when Lucy heard a coarse laugh from the center of town...
