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Meanwhile in the tavern Maxine was continuing to drink through the ale that she was buying. She knew that there were some people who were watching her as none had ever seen a woman as large as her. This was something that she was used to as she was from a family of giants.

Due to Charles having most of the money she hadn't been able to drink as much ale as she would have wanted but instead she just savoured the small amount that she could afford. The ale itself tasted pretty average and there was nothing that really blew her away with it.

Most people were keeping their distance away, they could see the sword that she was carrying and the fact that every part of her body besides her head was completely armoured up. She didn't mind the intimidation factor as it was a great deterrent and also made sure that unnecessary combat didn't take place.

This was something that her father had taught her. From a very early age he could see that Maxine was going to be much bigger than a normal person. He saw that she could use her size to win battles without the need to lift a finger. He had taught her that intimidating an opponent was useless enough to win a battle but even if a sword was needed they would probably be too intimidated to fight properly. It had helped her several times in the past and it would do the same in the future.

She continued to drink until she heard some footsteps approaching her. At first, she chose to ignore it but she could hear them continuing on. This caused her to lower her glass and she saw a man standing next to her. He was a large man but she made him look like a child she didn't pay too much attention to him at first but he remained there. This annoyed her and she looked at him, she was not in the mood to be at the centre of attention like this.

"Is there something that you want?" asked Maxine in a tone that indicated that her patience was short.

"I couldn't help but notice you from across the room," replied the Man. There was the smell of alcohol on him but he didn't seem too drunk.

"Yeah, I've been told that I stand out."

"You might not know this but I'm considered to be the strongest guy in town."

"Congratulations, now leave me be." It was obvious that she didn't care about what he was saying and just wanted to carry on with her drink.

"Actually, about that, you look to be strong. All that armour weighing you down means that you're pretty strong to be carrying it. How about this, you beat me in a test of strength and I'll buy you a drink."

"A drink?" Maxine wasn't the kind of woman who turned down the opportunity for a free ale but she was still cautious. "You really want to go against me?"

"Yes, you might call it a need to prove myself. But then again, I don't see many people like you walk in here. What do you say?"

"Fine." She gave a sigh as she hoped by doing what he wanted it would mean that she would leave him alone. "What kind of test were you thinking of?"

"Follow me outside and I'll show you." There was a small smile on his face. A couple of his teeth were missing and he wasn't someone that she considered to be handsome in the slightest.

One thing that Maxine could say about him was the fact that this strong guy did look like someone who could back up his claims. She didn't think he had a chance of beating her in a contest of strength but in comparison to normal people he would likely wipe the floor with them.

There was no chance of him seeing the muscles under her armour. They were fairly large for a woman and she had her life as a farmer and carrying around her armour to thank for her muscles. Some didn't think it was very womanly to have muscles such as hers but she didn't care about what people thought as being womanly. She had grown up with a particular person who was into being womanly and appealing to men and she didn't like that person very much.

Maxine drank the what was left inside of her glass. One thing she hadn't noticed was that some other people were following them outside. They had seen this person challenge strangers to tests of strength in the past. It was normally something that was entertaining to watch and they didn't want to miss it.

Eventually the man stopped right outside of a small hut outside of tavern. She watched as he began to get some items out of it and put them together. This included a large board with hooks attached to them. There were two of them in total and several metallic canisters were placed beside them. It seemed obvious that they were to hook onto the board and the strong man looked at Maxine who stood there with her arms crossed.

"The rules of the competition are simple," said the Man. "We each lift these weights, with each lift we add more weights and the first to fail loses the competition."

"Sounds simple enough," replied Maxine. There was something inside of her that thought that there might be more to this but she remained quiet as she simply surveyed the situation. There were more people there than she realised but this did nothing to make her nervous about the contest.

"Normally I'd say ladies first but this time I'll go first. Just to demonstrate of course." He chuckled a little as he stepped toward the board that he had set up for himself. One metal canister was hooked onto each side and he lifted it slightly so that he could get it behind his neck. The canisters themselves had not been lifted and he tensed up his face as he prepared to lift. He gave a small groan as he lifted up the board and the canisters by a few feet off the ground. He was standing to his full height with the board resting on his shoulders. He stayed like that for a couple of seconds before lowering them back down and giving a small sigh. "There you go, now your turn."

Maxine didn't say anything as she went to her own board. Like his there were two canisters attached to it. She placed the board behind her head and using her great strength she lifted them up just like the strong man had done. She stayed there for a few seconds before lowering them back down.

This made the strong man chuckle as he could see that Maxine was no pushover. This was the exact competition that he wanted. He attached another two canisters to his board and then lifted that up as well. The people who were watching cheered here when he completed this feat but Maxine wasn't impressed. She simply attached another two canisters and completed the feat herself.

For the next several minutes the contest continued with more canisters added. Eventually there were twelve canisters attached to each board. The strong man lifted his up with relative ease. Maxine on the other hand was having some difficulty. She could feel the weight that was pulling her down and she grunted as she tried to lift it. She knew that if she hadn't been wearing her armour then she would be able to lift the board and canisters with some ease. Unfortunately, this was something that she couldn't really do so she just made due.

With a tremendous amount of force Maxine was able to lift the canisters and everyone was shocked to see this. The strong man was also really taken aback by what he was seeing, she could see a cold sweat on his brow and he chuckled nervously. This made her think that there was something not right here. This man was significantly smaller than her but he was lifting weights that she was struggling with. There was something inside of her that was telling her that there was something wrong.

"I must admit that I under estimated your strength fair maiden," said the Strong Man. "But now we need to add even more canisters until one of us finally admits defeat."

"Actually, I have a better idea," replied Maxine. "Why don't we swap our weights for this one."

"Swap them?" He seemed confused and there was some nervousness in his voice. "Why would you want to do that?"

"Because I don't know about you but I smell a rat here." She then stepped toward the board that the strong man had been using. He wanted to stop her but she forced him to one side as she grabbed onto the board. With little effort she lifted up the board and she discovered that it weighed significantly less than her board. "Just as I suspected, you were trying to cheat your way to victory."

"Hey, cheating is a pretty strong word to be throwing around." He was still nervous about what was happening but he saw her glaring at him. Her hand was closing around the board and the sound of splintering wood could be heard.

"Do not take me for a fool unless you want me to cut out that lying tongue of yours!" She was close to drawing out her sword. But since he was unarmed this was something that she didn't think was necessary for the situation.

"There's no need for violence." He was very nervous and he could clearly see that he had lost the contest. He could also see that the crowd was beginning to turn on him and he looked up at her again. "Ok I admit you win; now why don't I buy you that drink I promised and we'll forget this whole thing ever happened."

"Make it a barrel for trying to deceive me."

"A barrel?" He was taken a little by surprise but seeing the situation he was in he really couldn't refuse her. "Fine a barrel, whatever you want."

Minutes later Maxine found herself standing outside the tavern waiting for the return of her squire. Besides her was a large barrel of ale that the strong man had bought for her, it turned out that he had a bit of a fanbase in this town and that he would often take part in rigged contests with other strong people he saw. Once he defeated them he would sell some merchandise and sign autographs for a price. Maxine didn't care too much about what he was doing, all she cared about was that she had her ale.

Just then she noticed Charles approaching her, the rain had more than subsided by now and glorious sunshine filled the sky. There was even a rainbow that could be seen in the distance but neither of them was paying attention to it. Instead he just wanted up to her and she loomed above him almost like an adult above a child. With everything that had happened she was a little happy to see him.

"Hello ma'am," said Charles. "Did you drink what you wanted?"

"Not everything but I do have this to take back with us," replied Maxine. She patted her armoured foot on the barrel and gave a small chuckle.

"H-How were you able to afford that?" He knew that she hadn't remained with enough money to buy such a thing and this confused him greatly. He did consider that she had stolen it but by now he had learned that she wasn't that kind of woman. She would also become incredibly offended if he said such a thing so he decided that it was best to keep the thought to himself.

"Just won a little friendly wager." Her stomach began to growl for a few moments. In the excitement of everything she remembered that she hadn't eaten. This was not something that she carry on with as her body needed calories much more than the average person. "You didn't happen to pick up any food, did you?"

"Well actually." He took off his bag and took something out of it. Maxine couldn't see it at first but as she focused on it her eyes began to light up as she realised what it was. "I returned to a local baker and he was selling this pie for really cheap." He began to pass it up to the tall woman standing before him. "It might be cold now but I thought that you might like to have it ma'am."

"Your assumptions are true my squire." She wanted nothing more than to rip the pie out but she kept her composure. "Did you make sure that there were no onions inside?"

"Yes, I've been assured that there are no onions inside of this pie and none have even touched it."

"Very good Charles." She didn't know what kind of pie it was and she didn't really want to know. She preferred it to be a surprise but she did take it off him when he lifted it up to her. "Thank you, my Squire, you have done well."

Normally she would use some kind of utensil to eat this pie but since she didn't have any at hand she just ate it using her hand. She began to eat it quickly and Charles could only stand there and watch. It was the largest pie that he could find at a decent price but she made it look small.

That was one thing that he had begun to get used to by being around Maxine. She made things look much smaller than they should do. He had heard her mention her family and he couldn't help but imagine that they were all as large as her. It was a somewhat scary thought to think that there were a few others like Maxine walking around.

Charles took his eyes off of her for a few moments as something close by drew his attention. But when he turned back he saw that she had finished the entire pie. He didn't think that it was humanly possible for someone to eat a pie so quickly but then again there were a lot of things that she did that weren't normally possible.

"That hit the spot," said Maxine. She couldn't help but pat her stomach a little even though it was beneath her armour. She could tell that it was a meat pie but which meat exactly was beyond her for the time being. It was delicious although it was a cold, the pastry had gone a little stale but it had still been completely edible. "Was there anything else that you need to tell me?"

"Well there is one more thing," replied Charles. From his bag he took out something else. At first, she couldn't see what it was but when she got a better view of it she could see that it was a small glass bottle with a green liquid inside of it. He lifted it up to her and she took it out of his hand. She was confused as her eyes began to examine it, she had no idea what it was or even why he would buy it.

"W-What is this?"

"That ma'am is something that will hopefully get you out of a tight spot. While I was exploring this town, I came across a potion shop. The owner claimed to have potions that had a wide range of effects. Of course, I didn't believe that any of them actually worked but there was one I thought could be useful. When you find yourself in a tight situation where you need to make a hasty retreat, simply throw this on the ground and then run as fast as you can. Well that's what the owner told me anyway."

Maxine looked at the potion for a few more moments. She felt a little offended that her squire would even mention that she might need to retreat. However, she wasn't a stupid woman either, she knew that there was likely going to be a time where she would need to retreat rather than engaging in a fight.

"Thank you, Charles," said Maxine. "This may come in use one day." She placed it in her own pouch that was attached to her. "But right now, we need to prepare for another patrol, this time however I'm going to try and find their base of operation. Cut off the head and the rest of the body will die."

"That could be dangerous ma'am. There are likely many bandits and only you there. Even if the others went with you would still likely be vastly outnumbered."

"Are you doubting my skills and strength?" She glared at him a little and this caused him to experience a small wave of fear.

"Of course, not ma'am. I'm just saying that even you can only take on so many people at once. You're powerful, there's no doubt about that but you're not invincible."

"You're right there. If I am to teach you anything on this trip it's that overconfidence can be the biggest hill a knight can face. Now come along, we have to meet up with the others for tonight's patrol."

Charles didn't argue with her on this point and he merely followed her back toward the building where they had been staying. They could hear the chatter inside that belonged to the other knights who having a drink and something to eat. Amongst them was Gregory who was taking a bite out of some bread when they arrived.

He was the only one to welcome the pair back and before they forgot Charles ensured that they gave him the money back for the breakfast from the previous morning. He was initially going to allow the debt to slide but he wasn't going to turn them down if they were offering to pay.

The other knights felt like their time the previous night had been wasted. They had stood by the manholes like they had been instructed but nothing had happened. This annoyed them greatly and they also didn't like the fact that Maxine was the one who had instructed them to do it.

In their eyes she wasn't worthy to be commanding them. She had not proven herself in combat, they also thought of her more as a child due to her young age and the fact that she was a woman had not escaped them. If their peers found out about this they would probably be the laughing stock. They barely looked at her as she walked and she wasn't fussed about giving them the time of day.

A few minutes later Maxine sat on the floor besides where the others were drinking. She had her own ale with her and she drank it straight from the barrel. She sat closest to Gregory while Charles sat in the corner. He had not been forced to go there but he was writing something inside of his book. None of the other knights paid much attention to him, Maxine would often glance over to him to see if he was alright.

"So, I've been told that you had a run-in with someone," said Gregory. "That is after we last saw each other last night."

"Yeah," replied Maxine as she lifted the barrel to her lips and drank some more of the subpar ale inside. "I ran into those bandits again and the person who seems to be calling the shots. I take it that you've been informed."

"I believe so but I don't entirely think that it's true. You stated that their leader is some kind of little girl?"

"That's right."

"Well I don't know about you but I'm not in the business of hurting little kids. That's just not my style."

"She's more than a mere child, underestimating her could be the biggest and possibly last mistake you ever make."

"If it were from the mouth of anyone else, even my own mother I'd be calling out bullshit. But since it's from you I can't take it as anything else but the truth. If you say that they're being led by a little girl who am I to disagree?"

"A girl?" replied Arthur. He laughed for a moment but was careful to not choke on the food that he was eating. "Ha, you've been drinking too much of that piss there. A little girl being in charge of a league of bandits? Until I see it myself I have to call bullshit on what you're saying." There was a small discussion that seemed to be agreeing with what Arthur was saying between the other knights.

"You can believe whatever you want but when it boils down to it you know that I'm telling you the truth," answered Maxine. Charles had taken note of what was being said and he was surprised with how calm she was.

"I think you better sit this one out tonight, you've been drinking too much and your mind is beginning to wander."

"My wits are still as sharp as ever. My hand is steady and my mind is focused on the task at hand." She gave him a glare but he didn't seem to be too intimidated. "This is the last time that you will ever doubt me."

"Now let's not fight shall we," replied Gregory who felt that he had to step in just so that Maxine didn't do anything that she would regret. "Just remember that when this job is done we can be on our merry way."

Maxine didn't answer as she was still annoyed. Instead she continued to drink her ale and every so often she would glance back at Charles. She didn't know what he was doing but since he was minding his own business she didn't pry into his affairs. Instead she simply left her squire be.

The group continued to eat and drink for another hour until they decided that it was time for them begin their patrol. Since they knew now how the bandits were getting into the town it seemed like things would be easier for them. Already Gregory had been able to obtain a map of the town and several heavy barrels. He planned to have them covering the manholes around the town so that they were useless to the bandits. Unfortunately, they were not very useful since they were heavy and needed to be carried around. This was where Maxine would come in. She was more than strong enough to lift the barrels and put them into place. It would take a horse and cart to transfer them around the town but he had already gotten all that sorted with the mayor.

Just as she was getting ready to leave Maxine looked at her helmet. Although it was in great shape she could still see a couple of small dents from where the arrow had struck her. It crossed her mind that without this helmet she would have died but she was still disappointed by fact that it was damaged. One thing that she prided herself on was the fact that her armour was completely undamaged and not because it was new.

For a moment she did consider returning home in order to repair the damage. However, she didn't think that it was worth the trip for such minor damage. There were other much more local blacksmiths but she didn't think that any of them were as skilled as her uncles who ran the forgery.

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