Once again pursued by the guards, Ashito and Akane were running away.
"We're not gonna get to rest, huh?"
"Well you don't exactly get to talk since you're just lying in the basket."
"I guess so... He-he..."
'We keep getting chased by the guards... I guess it's because she's from Serfama. Maybe we can just explain to the guards, that she wants to make a change...' Ashito thought 'Oh, don't be stupid. They probably wouldn't believe us and arrest, or maybe worse - kill Akane on the spot... So I guess our only choice is to run and hide, huh. We're running, but we need to hide somewhere. But where. Even with her clothes hidden, the townsfolk could still recognise her due to her tiara. But... She knew that it could reveal her, but she still refused to take it off, which means there's a deeper reason she can't take it off and I'm not so sure she'll tell me since... You know, she just met me.'
As Ashito continued formulating a plan in his head Akane kept running.
"This dress is so annoying!"
After Akane said that she put her hand under the big blue dress and reached to her belt and grabbed a knife, using it to cut the dress in two, leaving it behind them as she continued running. After doing so, there was a clear improvement in her speed, her moving almost twice the speed before.
"Well, Ashito? You got any plans for where to head now?"
When Akane said that Ashito suddenly had an idea.
"Of course! How did I not think of this?" Ashito said, seemingly to himself, " I'll use my psychic abilities to knock something over and block the path of the guards. But what?"
When Ashito was done, Akane started searching for something to knock over, when here eyes locked on the necessary item.
"There! An empty carriage! Knock that over and use it to block the path!"
"Yes, perfect!"
Ashito said and used his powers to lift the carriage up and throw it down behind them, as soon as they passed it.
Of course this didn't mean that they could stop and rest. After all there were still townsfolk around, but they needed to get to an isolated space somewhere.
"I don't know this town very well, but do you know any isolated locations?"
"Let me think..." Akane paused for a moment to think, "Hmmm... Ah I know. We don't really have time so I'll just take us there."
"Sounds good."
After that Akane ran into an alley and headed to the outskirts of the town. There she ran into a small abandoned building, where they could finally rest a little.
"W-we did it. We got away... That was exhausting." Akane said, followed by her heavy breathing, "So, what are we gonna do now? I f we go back, they'll probably recognise me."
"You're right... But in that case, shouldn't we just leave this town?"
"I wish we could, but we really can't... You see, this is one of the first places my father is planning to take over - the town of Arowa. He didn't send a lot of people here, because it's a small village with almost no defences. They plan to take over and enslave the whole village and kill the governor."
"Well, I can't leave knowing that."
"Exactly."
"But what are we gonna do? As you said if we go out there we'd get recognised as criminals."
"Guess I'll have to get a change of clothes... But from where?"
After Akane said that, silence fell upon the two, until Ashito realised something.
"Hey! I have psychic powers. I can fly over the city unnoticed and steal some drying clothes just like before."
"That sounds good... But... Hey, could you get me a hat or something else to cover my head?... I just don't wanna get a sun... stroke... OK?
"...OK. I'm on it." Ashito said and flew off.
As he was flying above the town he thought about what Akane said.
'A hat or something to cover her hair. She sounded hesitant when saying that. I'm guessing it's not really about sunstroke is it. I guess it's not the tiara itself she doesn't want to take off, but what's underneath. Does she have a bald spot or something?'
After a while of searching Ashito finally found some drying clothes that he could take.
'OK, I got a red skirt, white shirt, blue jacket and just like Akane asked - a floppy garden hat.'
"She wasn't actually that specific about it, but still - a hat's a hat."
After getting the necessary items, Ashito returned to the abandoned house and gave her the acquired clothes.
"Thanks, so would you, ummmm... Go outside so I can -"
"Yeah, of course." Ashito said as he already began flying outside the door.
After a few minutes Akane called him back inside, her have already put on on the clothes.
"The shirts a bit tight, but that's OK."
"Oh, sorry, my bad." Ashito said, as though it had been an accident, that her shirt was so tight, but in fact Ashito had seen many oversized shirts before, but by his thoughts they couldn't show her full beauty.
"What the hell is up with that smirk on your face?"
"Smirk on my... face? What are you talking about? I'm a potato?"
"But you have a face. You didn't know that? You must have been unconsciously magically projecting it or something."
"Magically projecting it huh... That must be one of the powers that Goddess gave me?"
"What are you going on about?"
"Oh nothing... Anyway... What's that necklace you're wearing?"
Ashito hadn't noticed it before, but Akane was wearing a necklace with one red and one gold dragon both intervened. When he thought about it it kind of looked like both the Empire's and Serfama's symbols combined into one.
"You mean this? THIS was given to me by Mother before she left. She wanted to take me with her and that's what I wanted too, but my father wouldn't allow it. My mother wasn't strong enough to defeat him so she imprisinded him in the part of this land called Serfama, but he seems to have gotten stronger and broken the curse and now is heading to overtake everything."
"Well don't you worry. We're gonna stop him, starting with this city. So, let's go!"
Akane smiled for the first time since Ashito met him.
With her encouraging smile and his will they headed back into the city to stop Serfama.