The situation was very intense as an incredibly angry nine-foot woman was looking down at three men who were currently standing in her way. One of them had just attempted to harm her best friend and had insulted her other companions. The Innkeeper who had started this entire situation found himself beginning to cower back as he realised that he had poked the bear and was now likely going to get mauled.

Maxine's hand went to reach her sword but she felt something grab onto it. When she looked down, she could see that it was Charles who had grabbed onto her hand. There was still a look of anger on her face but when she looked at him, she could see that he was shaking his head at her. This was a clear sign that he didn't want her to engage and this was something that she found to be very difficult.

More than anything, she wanted to pick up these bigots and throw them around as if they were toys. But she remembered the promise that she had made to Charles and how she was trying to curb her anger. Situations like this didn't make her promise easier to keep but she also knew that it would be better for everyone, if she were to just remove herself from here. Even though she would feel like it was a dent against her pride.

Without saying a word Maxine simply began to make her way towards the door of the inn. It was closed and rather than simply opening and stepping through, the armoured giantess kicked open. The force of the kick was enough to knock it off of its hinges and she simply continued to walk out. Charles stood there for a moment and looked before he began to follow her. The others did see that it was time for them to leave and quickly got up from where they were sitting and stepped out of the inn.

This left the instigators to stand there and simply look at what had taken place. They knew that it would take a huge amount of force to knock the door off its hinges in the way that it did and this just showed them how strong Maxine was. They were glad that she had decided to walk away rather than fight. If she had stayed, then there was a good chance that they would have suffered several broken bones.

Outside, Maxine continued to walk in the rain with the others following closely behind her. Asla did step forward somewhat so that she could catch up with the larger woman. She couldn't help but feel guilty as she knew that when it boiled down to it, the whole situation was her and her companions' fault. If they had not been there, it was likely that there wouldn't have been an issue. Because of this, she felt like she owed her an apology but wasn't too sure how to come across to her.

"M-Maxine," said Asla. As she continued to walk up to the much taller woman. "My apologises for that. It wasn't my intention to cause any trouble for you. But unfortunately, it is a reaction that I and my people do seem to receive when we step into such an establishment. I was hoping that this time it would go differently, unfortunately it seems I was mistaken." Maxine didn't respond as she simply continued to walk forward and the rain continued to pelt her armour.

"It's best to leave her be," replied Charles as he caught up with Asla. His voice was quiet so that Maxine couldn't hear him. "She needs time to calm herself down, just stay back for now and talk to her later."

"Hmm, I see." This did disappoint Asla but she did as she was told as she stepped back and allowed Maxine to be by herself.

Although the situation had been far from ideal, Charles did feel some pride towards Maxine. He knew that she would have likely just exploded with anger and laid waste to the Innkeeper and those men. None of them would have likely gotten out of there in one piece but she had decided to simply walk away. This showed him that she was serious about trying to control her anger and she had taken a very important step forward.

For the armoured giantess herself, there were still a fair few thing going through her mind. There was the fair few thing incident that had just taken place, the journey that she was on and disappointment of losing in the tournament. All of this was really weighing on her mind and she remained quiet. The others seemed to be taking notice of Charles's advice and simply left her be.

The rain continued to pelt down on them and they had to lift their hands in order to shield their faces from the rain. Unfortunately, since the area that they were walking through was surrounded by fields, there wasn't any trees for them to shield themselves from. Because of this, all they could do for the time being was endure.

Everyone in the group was getting soaked through and yet they continued to walk as they simply searched for a new place to find shelter. This was more difficult than they had expected as there seemed to be nothing all around them. From as far as they could see, all they could see was open fields.

Eventually, the rain did ease up and the sun began to shine. It made it hard to believe that it had been raining just a short time ago. Jinshu in particular noticed that there was a rainbow in the sky. In the culture that he shared with Asla and Taiyun, a rainbow was a sigh of good luck. This caused him to look up at it and smile.

"Look there's a rainbow up there," said Jinshu as he pointed up to the rainbow above them. This quickly got the attention of his immediate companions and Charles who all looked up towards it.

"That's a good sign," replied Taiyun. "Our journey should have some good fortune in the very near future." The three of them seemed to agree with him and although Charles didn't think too much of it. He still admitted that the sight did look quite pleasant. Seeing a rainbow wasn't the worth thing to happen in the world.

"You actual believe that a rainbow will make everything better again?" answered Maxine. Water was dripping from her hair and she felt that some of the rainwater had gotten through the gaps of her armour.

"W-Well no, but it still promises that our situation will improve."

"I've never heard anything so ridiculous. You can't just wish away your problems because of some stupid rainbow. The only way that..."

"M-Miss Martel," stated Charles. This time he didn't call her ma'am or Maxine as he was trying to be as respectful as he could. He quickly stepped towards her so that he didn't have to speak so loudly. "I think it's best that you stop there, I know that you're angry but you shouldn't take it out on your employers."

"Then how am I supposed to vent it!" Her voice was quiet but the frustration behind it could be clearly heard. He wasn't worried about being harmed or berated as he thought that she simply needed a little help.

"I-I'm not sure, but it's better than taking it out on them. I'm proud that you were able to hold your temper back there, I really am. But there are still better ways of venting your anger rather than belittling the beliefs of your employers."

Maxine fell silent for a few moments as she knew that her friend was right. What she had been doing wasn't right and she did turn her head towards the other three. She tried to calm herself down as much as she could before she spoke. There was a look of curiosity on the face of the others as they saw the giant armoured woman looking at them.

"My apologises for that outburst," said Maxine. She took a moment to look up at the rainbow. She remembered seeing one along with her father many years ago and it was a very fond memory that she had of him. "It is not my place to question your beliefs."

"We humbly accept your apology Miss Martel," replied Asla who spoke for both herself and her companions. "Sometimes we forget that our cultures are vastly different to one another." She smiled up to her in an attempt to make her feel better. Maxine didn't really react to this that much as she was still getting over what had happened. She was also trying not to sneeze as she didn't want to embarrass herself with her quite cute sounding sneezes.

"Indeed, and I'm also sorry for how you were treated by my countrymen. You didn't have to experience that."

"You needn't apologise over that. You were not the one who said those words or forced us to leave. I would like to say that was the first time that my companions and I have experienced such a reaction. But then we both know that I'd be lying."

Maxine could only sigh as she could imagine some of the abuse and reactions that she had gotten from people during her time in Angleland. It was likely that not everyone that Asla Jinshu and Taiyun had any ill will towards them due to their race. But there had definitely been a few and this had been enough to make them wary. It had been a reason why they thought that they would struggle to find someone who would agree to protect them on their journey.

"There has been one thing that I have been wondering," said Maxine as she continued to walk. She found that talking to Asla made her slowly begin to forget her anger and eventually calm her down.

"And what is that?" replied Asla. She looked up to the giant woman with some curiosity. She didn't want to admit that she was beginning to get a neck strain from constantly having to look up at her.

"Your friends there. Why are they travelling with you? Are they your husbands or something like that?" In Angleland it was illegal for a person to have multiple marriages going at the same time. Since Asla was from a completely different country, she thought that it was possible that the laws there were different so multiple marriages might be legal. If it wasn't that, then it was known that sometimes, people could be in relationships with multiple people. Everyone involved would be aware and accepting to the relationship, but this was indeed quite rare.

"Oh no, Jinshu and Taiyun are not my romantic partners. They're accompanying me out of duty."

"Duty?" This was an interesting use of words that did attract the attention of Maxine. She knew that Asla was most likely to have some riches as she was paying good money for this job. But now she was thinking that there might be more to her than she had originally contemplated.

"Yes, they are to remain by my side until we reach our final destination. That is something that you needn't worry about. As soon as we reach the east coast, then you won't have to accompany us any further."

"I see." Maxine wanted to pry further but for the moment decided not to. She might not have been the most intelligent person in the world, but she could tell that Asla was hiding something. Her curiosity was beginning to peak but she felt it was best not to ask further questions.

Many times, in jobs like this, the clients preferred to keep certain aspects of their motives secret. Maxine assumed that this job was the same so she decided to leave it at that. Just as long as she was paid for her services, the reason for their trip could be anything for all that she cared.

Before she could say anything else, Maxine couldn't help but let out a sneeze and it caught everyone but Charles by surprise. Asla and her companions looked up to the armoured giantess as they realised that the sneeze had come from her. Its cuteness hadn't been lost on them and they could see her face beginning to turn red with embarrassment.

Charles couldn't help but smile a little as he did enjoy hearing Maxine's sneeze although he knew her opinions about it. This was just a little something that he found interesting about her, despite the fact that she was so large and intimidating. The fact that she had a sneeze that many would consider to be adorable always seemed to put a smile on his face.

Eventually the legs of the group were too tired to walk and they were forced to rest up on the side of the road. They sat down on the ground that was still wet from being on the rain that had come a short time earlier. The warm sun was beginning to dry things up but it was still a slow process.

Some food that they had was shared amongst them, rather than being a proper meal. They were more like snacks, this included fruits, some bread and even a cake that they had been able to buy. Maxine still hardly spoke after what had taken place as she was still annoyed and lost in her own thoughts.

She was distracted when she heard her three foreign companions. They were speaking in their language once again and because of this, she had no idea what they were saying. As far as she knew, they could be talking about assassinating her and Charles while they slept, or merely talking about the weather.

Her suspicions were growing but the fact that they were talking to themselves in their native language did make sense. It was simply much easier for them to talk to one another rather than using a language that they might have been fluent in, but could still confuse them from time to time.

One thing that Maxine did notice was Charles slowly making his way towards the group. He was simply curious about their language and it seemed to be getting the better of him as he continued to walk towards them. Eventually he was close enough as far as he was concerned and made his presence known.

"E-Excuse me," said Charles. "I'm not interrupting you, am I?" Quickly Jinshu and Taiyun looked towards him with some surprise on their faces. Asla too looked up to him, but she seemed to be much more welcoming.

"Of course not," replied Asla. She smiled up to him and this seemed to calm down her two male companions. "What can I help you with?"

"Well, I couldn't help but overhear your conversation and I must say. Your language is fascinating, of course I didn't understand a word that you were saying but still... I can't help be curious."

"I see. I admit that it is very different to your language. It took us a while to learn your language and there are some terms that I still can't wrap my head around. For some of your countrymen, they speak your language and yet I still can't understand a word that they're saying."

"Yeah, accents can't do that. Those from the Prime Islands have accents so thick that even I have a hard time understanding them." He chuckled for a moment. "If it isn't too much trouble, I wouldn't mind learning a thing or two about your language. Since we're going to be travelling companions for a while, you wouldn't mind teaching me?"

"It would be my pleasure." She then held out her hand to him and smiled again. She then spoke a phrase in her native language. "That means, Hello, it is nice to meet you." She took his hand and then shook it. "Now you try." Charles repeated the phrase as best as he could and he knew that he had made a mistake or two. All he could hear was Asla chuckle for a moment. "Your punctuation is a little off but not bad for a first attempt."

"Thanks, I guess I didn't embarrass myself too much."

Maxine continued to watch on and she was overtaken by a different emotion. It wasn't anger or disappointment in herself, no it was something entirely different. Rather, she could see how friendly her friend and squire were getting with Asla and she didn't like it. It was around this time that she realised that she was feeling jealous.

It was one of the few times that she had felt this feeling in her life and the first towards another woman. She tried to deny it as much as she could, but it was there and for the time being, it was likely going to remain whenever she saw her squire speaking with Asla. Especially when it was with something like this.

Maxine continued to watch as Charles repeated back a few simple phrases in Asla's native language. Neither of them was sure exactly what he was saying but Asla did seem to be quite impressed with how he was stating them. She thought that there was a chance that if he studied the language for a few years that he might even be fluent in it. This would be something that would be very rare in Angleland.

Throughout their lesson, Maxine wasn't the only one who was keeping her eye on Charles and Asla. Both Jinshu and Taiyun also kept their eye on the pair as they were curious to see what his motives actually were. At no point did they fully trust him and they had been the reluctant to hire him and Maxine. But Asla had still thought it was best to have some kind of protection, even if it was from a fairly small man and a nine-foot heavily armoured woman who was more than capable of swinging a sword.

Their lesson came to an end when Maxine cleared her throat. This quickly caught the attention of Charles who turned to look at her. She was still sitting on the ground and looking over to them. Her arms were crossed and she looked to be unhappy. Charles simply assumed that it was because of the events that had taken place at the inn and the fact that she had lost the tournament.

Everyone watched as the towering woman stood up to her full height and stated that they should keep going. Jinshu was still feeling a little tired but he didn't want to say anything as he was still somewhat scared of her. Like others before him, he knew better than to go against what she said and everyone did rise up to their feet.

Although the group had rested, the rest wasn't long enough for any of them to fully recover from their journey so far. Of course, they knew that they weren't going to reach the east coast if they were simply going to sit around. Because of this, although there was some reluctance, they did carry on with their journey.

Along the way they did pass a couple of people who were riding on a horse and cart. Rather than being people of wealth, they seemed like simple farmers who were making their way from one place to another. However, they did look over to the odd-looking party who were passing by.

They could see the giantess who was leading the way but their attention drew more towards the other companions. Like many in Angleland, they had heard about the people from the Kingdom to the East but they had never actually seen them. To them, it was like they were looking at exotic animals rather than people. To them, Charles was the most normal looking member of the party, but his slightly darkened skin did make him stand out as well.

Their glares were noticed by Maxine who simply glared back at them. This struck some fear into the farmers who simply carried on their way and tried to forget what they had just seen. Although it was likely that they wouldn't forget this party in a hurry and would be mentioning them to their friends at the local tavern.

The main fear of Asla and her countrymen had been the threat of bandits. So far, they hadn't seen anyone who even resembled a bandit which to them was either sheer luck or that Maxine was actually doing her job. Bandits were known to mainly focus on people who were travelling alone, if they were in a party such as this, it was likely that they would search for easier prey. The sheer presence of Maxine would deter any bandit as she was far from an easy target.

Several more hours of walking went by until the group had to rest for the night. There was an inn nearby but none of them wanted to risk a repeat of the events that had taken place earlier that day. Because of this, they had to sleep on the ground again but not before cooking some much-needed food.

This time it was Taiyun who was the main person who was cooking the food. The ingredients that he used were somewhat unusual as it involved using spices that weren't found in Angleland and had been brought from his own kingdom. Because of this, while it was cooking, both Maxine and Charles were greeted by smells that they had never smelled before. To the large woman, it smelled very unusual and there was something about it that she didn't like.

There was another sensation that she could feel and this was one that she had felt on many different occasions. This one was hunger as she sat there with a slight look of discomfort on her face. The last thing that she wanted to do was go hungry for the night and even this strange smelling meal that was being prepared did seem appetising.

Eventually the food was ready and it was quickly dished up onto the plates. One was given to each of them with Maxine getting the largest portion. There she looked down at her meal and could see things that she had never seen before. This included what looked to be small chunks of meat that were covered with something orange that she could only describe as some kind of topping. There was some rice included along with a couple of different vegetables that she didn't think that she had ever seen before. Such things she would have been used to due to the fact that she had grown up on a farm. But this was like nothing that she had seen before.

"W-What is this?" asked Maxine as she looked down at the dish that was currently on her lap. She then glanced over to Asla as she felt that the small woman was the most likely one who would give her a straight answer.

"This is a traditional dish from our kingdom," replied Asla as she took a bite out of her meal. "It is supposed to give all the calories and taste that a traveller needs for their journey." She noticed Charles take a bite out of his meal and he smiled.

"Yum, this is delicious," stated Charles after he had swallowed what was in his mouth. "I've never tasted anything like this before."

"I guess it is something that the people of Angleland have never really eaten before. Hopefully you'll enjoy the rest.

After witnessing Charles eating some of his meal, Maxine did scoop up some of the meat and placed it in her mouth. That was when she felt something that caught her completely by surprise. This was the sensation of something hot within her mouth but it wasn't necessarily the temperature of the food that was hot. It was around the temperature that she was expecting but it was something else. Something that caused her to somewhat panic as she tried to fan her mouth. This caught the attention of everyone in the group who looked up to her and simply watched.

"Hot! Hot!" stated Maxine in a somewhat panicked tone. She couldn't help but feel that there was something terribly wrong. This got a small chuckle from Jinshu and thankfully she couldn't hear him.

"Yeah, the dish is a little spicy," replied Asla as she thought that she should have warned her new companions about it. She had forgotten that the people of Angleland didn't really use any kind of spices in their cooking so such a taste like this was completely alien to them. "Don't worry, it'll go down."

Charles sat there and watched as Maxine picked up a cup of water that she had been drinking from and quickly drank some of it. This made her feel better and worse in a way as it washed the food down but didn't really get rid of any of the spicey sensation that she had. Her face had turned a little red as the others simply watched on and wondered what her reaction would be.

"A-Are you alright Maxine?" asked Charles with some concern in his voice. He had felt the same thing but had enjoyed it more than she had. There was a part of him that was worried that she would react negatively to what had just taken place.

"Y-Yeah I'm alright," replied Maxine. It was obvious that what had taken place had been a worse experience for her than she was letting on. "I-It's just that I've never eaten anything like this before."

"It does pack a punch. Guess it's not like any of the pies that you've eaten before." This did make her think for a moment after she had heard Charles mention this as she looked towards Asla.

"You do have pies in your kingdom, don't you?" There was genuine curiosity in her voice as she asked this.

"We do know what pies are," answered Asla. "But we only came across it once we came to Angleland. There are no pies in our kingdom."

"No pies in your kingdom?" There was shock in her voice as she couldn't imagine any place that didn't have pies. "How can there possibly be a kingdom without pies? Such a thing should be impossible!"

This was more shocking to her than anything else that she had ever comprehended in her life. Even Charles could see how flustered she was getting over the entire thing and he couldn't help but find it a little funny. After everything that she had been through, the fact that there was a country without pies was the most surprising to her. One thing that he knew for certain was that she wouldn't want to visit Asla's kingdom if there were no pies there whatsoever.