158 A Drastic Change

"We need to go to the abandoned chapel tonight. It's been a while since we last had a meeting. Those guys must have found something by now about the missing people. Although I am sure the Pale Society is behind it, it's still much better to know about what they're trying to do so we can stop it," explained Graham lengthly.

Graham and Luuk were having breakfast at the hotel restaurant and it was a buffet-style breakfast where hotel guests could take whichever food they wanted. Graham had taken a portion of jelly salad that had broccoli and asparagus in it while Luuk was eating a cheese and pineapple hedgehog.

"Val, this style of food is very modern! I believe it will get even more popular in the future!" he muttered as he took a bite of the jelly; his tone was completely different from the serious and analytical one he had used earlier. The bouncy texture of the jellified broth and its savory taste complemented the vegetable pieces that were hiding inside it nicely.

"So what are we going to do while waiting for tonight? Is it safe for me to go to uni?" asked Luuk while chewing his food slowly. Judging from his expression, he didn't seem to like the combination of pineapple and cheese that much.

"It should be okay. I don't think they would dare to attack you out in the open. And besides, I'm sure you are fast enough to escape in case you were attacked," said Graham casually.

That makes sense. Luuk thought about Graham's answer and decided to trust the man. However, he still needed to be careful because he didn't know the extent to the enemies' abilities.

"But stay away from corpses. They have a Plague Cavalry," added Graham.

Luuk tilted his head and raised his eyebrows.

"What is that?" he asked curiously.

"That's a Contractbound with creepy abilities. They can move between corpses. You are the Faculty of Medicine and I am sure there is a morgue there. Just don't get anywhere near the morgue," reminded Graham.

Luuk nodded.

That's creepy. He thought. I'll just stay away from building C then. My classes are in buildings A and F today, so I should be fine.

"So what about you? What are you going to do?" asked Luuk to the man who was busy finishing his jelly salad.

"I'm going to go investigate some things. This city is getting more and more dangerous because of the Pale Society. We need to stop them as soon as we can," he said with a hint of urgency in his tone, "And besides, I want to go home soon because I've paid the rent until the end of this year," he added.

"Me too. Although I've managed to pack some books, most of them are still at home. Sometimes I wish studying medicine didn't require me to buy those expensive thick books. That's also another reason why I resort to stealing," said Luuk half-jokingly.

"But before that, Val, we need a new identity just to be safe. This one has an identity card so we'll use this for official businesses," he muttered quietly.

In the street outside the hotel, the sun was shining brightly and the wind was blowing strongly. His brown trench coat protected him from the cold breeze and the thick skin of the appearance that he was wearing kept himself warm. Graham walked carefully and picked a random stranger whose memory he would read. Creeping from behind the man, he whispered an Order without being seen.

"I order you to go to the alley where no one is around!"

With that, the man's body moved automatically against his will and he headed towards a quiet back alley. Graham was following far behind the man to avoid suspicion and once he entered the alley and was sure there was no one besides the two of them there, he approached the man.

"I order you to stand there quietly for five minutes!"

He issued another order once the man was in range and he stood there like a mannequin.

"Val, I can't believe that we basically do most of our business in an abandoned alley. We sure sound like a drug dealer now," he muttered in self-mockery.

Graham made sure to stay behind the man so he couldn't see his appearance. Once he was close enough, he started chanting while focusing on the kind of information that he needed. It was the closest person that the man last saw.

"I, in the name of the Deity of Cunningness and Transformation, ask to read the memory of this man!"

He suddenly felt surrounded by water and was watching scenes by scenes of the man's interaction with someone. It was a woman!

Graham couldn't change the scene once it had started so he could only pay attention to her behavior and mannerisms. He also received information about the woman from the man's memory. After that, he severed the connection and returned to the real world. He looked at his watch and noticed that only less than five seconds had passed despite him watching the man's whole memories about the woman.

The man, who was still conscious through the whole process, had an uncomfortable look on his face that was mixed with fear. However, he couldn't even open his mouth to scream because of Graham's order nor could he turn around to look at the man who was holding him captive.

Since his Order was for him to stand there in silence for five whole minutes, Graham wasn't worried that he would suddenly turn around. He didn't need to go to another alley for his transformation, so he just hid behind a dumpster.

"Val, I'm sure you couldn't see what I saw in the man's mind, so you're in for a surprise," he muttered with a mischievous smile.

After that, he began chanting quietly.

"I, in the name of the Deity of Cunningness and Transformation, hereby change my whole being to that of Priscilla van Lanen!"

His skin began itching in an instant and his whole body shrunk. His hard, tanned skin became soft and fair while his hair grew all the way over his shoulder before turning light blond. There were slight curls in his hair now that gave him a 'mature' aura. His breast kept growing before stopping once it reached the size of a small-sized melon. His height, which was originally over 185 cm as the martial arts instructor, had become only a little over 170 cm. Once the transformation process was over, Graham had completely turned into a pretty woman with a petite body.

"Val, what do you think?" said Graham with a very feminine voice-- it could even be said as a beautiful voice.

"It sure feels weird that our chest holds weight now. And not a light one either. I cannot imagine running with them. And down there has also changed, Val. This ability sure values perfection," he said as he was holding his now bulging chest part of his shirt.

"Now the question is whether this is the woman's actual size or the man is just remembering them as bigger than in reality," he wondered curiously.

"It's definitely better to turn into another man, but this one will do for now. We just need to adjust our clothes a little," he said and then looked at the now oversized clothes that he was wearing. Even Purloin had become very loose.

"I order you to become tighter!"

He said and the fabric of his pants unraveled and wrapped around itself, making the material thicker with the excess thread. The pants that he was wearing were now just a little too big but not too loose anymore. He couldn't make it the exact size in case he needed to transform into someone else again.

Graham then tighter the pale leather belt with complicated patterns that he was wearing and adjusted his oversized shirt. It still looked good on him because the petite build of the woman just fit well with the shirt. He didn't really care about his coat because it didn't obstruct his movement unlike his pants, so he left it alone.

He approached the man who was still standing motionlessly in the alley and then whispered in his ear from behind.

"I order you to forget what happened just now!"

His voice was like a seductress trying to coerce someone into doing her bidding. Once he had issued the Order, the man suddenly became confused, especially since he found himself standing alone in a deserted alley while being unable to move.

Meanwhile, Graham had quickly left the area while trying to match the way the woman walked but it still felt awkward for him. He was still not used to walking with something heavy on his chest and also, the way the woman walked was completely different from his normal way of walking.

"Val, this is somewhat difficult," he muttered quietly with a very womanly voice.

Graham then decided to just stop a public motor carriage driving by because he didn't want to spend the rest of the way on foot. He waved his hand softly and not long after, one metal vehicle pulled over and the driver looked at him with a stare that made him uncomfortable.

"Where are you going, missus?" asked the driver. There was something in his tone that made him felt somewhat awkward, but he couldn't really put it.

"Val, is this how it feels to be a woman? It does feel 'different'," he muttered. He wasn't worried that the driver would try anything funny because he could defend himself, but the whole situation was just strange to him.

"Take me to Raadhuislaan," he said, making his voice as rough as he could but it still came out as feminine.

"Right away!" replied the driver.

He drove away towards the destination at once and although he acted rather creepily towards Graham who was wearing a beautiful woman's appearance, his driving was very smooth. They arrived at their destination more than five minutes later because the traffic was rather bad for a reason. The driver then pulled over and turned around to see the passenger better, although Graham had noticed that the man had been staring through the rearview mirror the whole time.

"That would be four pennings, miss," said the driver with a weird smile.

Graham noticed that the price was cheaper than normal. He quickly took out the money and paid before the driver changed his mind. He slipped the coins through the gap in the glass separator and the driver took the change to touch his soft hand with the pretense of receiving the coins. Graham was weirded out but he didn't say anything. He just quickly got out of the motor carriage and went away without looking back.

"Val, I wonder if all public drivers give a discount to pretty women. If that's the case, they would go bankrupt in a matter of days. I now envy those women..." he muttered as he was walking past the numerous people filling the large avenue.

He walked towards the other end of the avenue where the accident had happened the night before and noticed with his Supersight that a lot of men were staring at him because of either his face or his breast size or both. He was used to not caring about his surroundings so he just ignored them and kept on walking awkwardly; he still hadn't mastered the way the real Priscilla walked.

The farther he walked, the more people were gathered. There seemed to be something happening on the other side, but because of his short body, he couldn't see past the other people's shoulders. Graham had to walk around to find the quietest spot around and only then he could see the other side.

"Val, the whole street is blocked and the Police are still there. Shouldn't it have been finished last night? So why are they still here?" he muttered in curiosity.