It was an obvious choice for both Maxine and Charles to leave the burning inn. She didn't know everything that had happened but with what she had seen she began to piece together the events in her head. More and more she wished that she had been fully aware so that she could have protected Charles and maybe even some of the patrons.

Instead they were the only survivors and the inn was completely destroyed. The bodies of the Innkeeper and his family were also burnt away with what was hoped to be any evidence of what had taken place. In Maxine's mind, no one should know what happened there nor what the Innkeeper and his family had been doing.

Her main concern wasn't about whether anyone would discover this place. It was what was happening to her squire Charles. Ever since they had left and continued their journey to Flea Bay, he had been particularly quiet. Normally he would want to talk to her about something but this time he was extremely quiet. On the odd occasion he would sniffle as if he had been crying but other than that he didn't mutter a single word.

A short time after leaving the inn a bush close to him began to shake and this startled Charles. It was enough for him to quickly dart toward Maxine and grab onto her for protection. The action had come suddenly but it wasn't enough to knock her off of her balance. But mere moments later they saw a rabbit run out of the bush, it stopped and looked at the small man and giant woman before running away.

Even when it was gone Charles still held onto the armoured body of Maxine and she just stood there as she waited for him to let go. However, it didn't seem like he was and under this circumstance her annoyance would get the better of her and she would angrily tell him to get off of her. This time was different as she knew that he had just dealt with a very traumatic event and that he was in a delicate place right now.

"It's gone now Charles," said Maxine. Her voice was unusually calm and gentle. In a way it sounded very similar to the voice of her mother. "T-There's nothing for you to be scared about."

"I-I'm sorry ma'am," replied Charles. It took him a few moments before he spoke and slowly, he began to let go of her.

"It's alright, just stay close to me and I'll make sure that nothing will hurt you." She was even able to break a smile that was something that uncharacteristic of her. It caused a small amount of confusion from her squire as he looked at her.

"O-Ok ma'am." Even though he tried to think of more positive things his mind couldn't help but remember the events of the night before. He had killed five people and although they had been in self-defence it was still something that weighed heavily on him. Not just that but the horror that he saw also weighed on him.

Right now, to him the nine-foot Maxine was more than just his companion. She was his main form of protection and he didn't want to be more than six feet away from him. Before he did have a small amount of fear for him, but now all he wanted to do was to be close to her at all times.

With that minor event out of the way the pair continued on with their journey. Maxine wanted to reach Flea Bay before nightfall so that they could get a decent place to sleep. She knew that finding a similar inn to the previous one was extremely unlikely. That one had been in the middle of practically nowhere and a good location for a religious cult to act out their rituals. But in the middle of a vibrant town or city would be extremely foolish as law enforcement could keep an eye on them with ease. Not just that but their actions would be noticed much easier by general onlookers.

Unfortunately, due to Charles's mind being concerned with other things he was walking at a slower pace than he normally would. This did annoy Maxine a little and every now and again she would have to tell him to keep up. For a while it would work but then he would begin to lose track again.

At one point he didn't realise that Maxine had actually stopped and when he walked into her the force of collision caused him to fall back. It was more of a shock for him than anything as he was mostly uninjured from it all. She had decided that they had walked enough for the time being and would take a much-needed rest.

They found a dry patch of grass to sit down upon and they took out some food that they had brought with them. Maxine didn't waste any time in beginning to eat her own food but when she looked over to Charles, she could see that he wasn't eating anything. Instead he was simply sitting there and looking at it. His facial expression showed her that his mind was still focused on the night before. For the moment all she could do was sigh as she knew that this wasn't going end any time soon.

"You need to eat Charles," said Maxine. Her voice softer than usual as she tried not to show any rage toward him. If not for him then she would likely be dead right now. "You're not helping yourself by starving."

"I-I know ma'am," replied Charles. "I-I just don't feel hungry." His meal wasn't very appetising but to a starving man it was a feast fit for a king.

"Don't be like that. I know what happened to you was horrible but starving yourself isn't going to make you feel any better. Now eat up, we'll be moving off soon and I don't want you falling even further behind."

"As you wish." With that he picked up a small piece of his bread and took the smallest of bites out of it. Maxine watched on and for a moment she thought that he was doing this out of sarcasm. But she realised that he was simply eating as much as he could. It wasn't much but with how he was feeling he simply couldn't stomach any more.

It took Charles over ten minutes to eat a single slice of bread and the entire time Maxine was watching on. Unless she addressed him, it was unlikely that he would speak to her as the events of the previous night repeated itself over and over again in his mind. He couldn't help but shake a little as he sat there and his gaze was diverted for a moment when he saw something familiar dangling in front of him.

When he looked, he could see that it was his mother's locket, the very same one that he had given to Maxine. It had been a token of his promise to serve her for when she saved his life the first time that they had met. When he looked up, he could see her crouching down and holding it over him. Even crouching, it was likely that she was as tall as he was when he was standing up.

"W-What are you doing ma'am?" asked Charles as he grabbed onto it. As soon as he did, she released it without any kind of fuss.

"Returning what is yours," replied Maxine. "You gave me this after I saved your life, last night you saved mine so the life debt that you owe me has been settled. I'm not going to lie to you, I actually regret accepting your servitude. Not from any actions from yourself, far from it. You've been a great help to me and a very acceptable companion and friend. However, what I do regret is putting you into danger. If you were not traveling with me you would not have experienced what you did last night. For that I can only apologise but now I am giving you two options. The first is that we part ways, I can continue on my goal of earning a knighthood and you can do whatever it is that you please. Our paths might cross again at some point in the future but most likely this will be the last time that we'll ever see each other."

"A-And the second option?" He had some idea what it could be but he wanted to hear it from her.

"You remain by my side through my travels as a willing companion and a full equal. I can't promise you that you'll be safe but I promise that I will do everything that I can to ensure that no harm will come to you. You will reap the rewards that come along with this and it would be something that I would greatly appreciate."

For a moment Charles didn't know what to say to the towering woman right in front of him. He hadn't even considered the fact that his debt to her had been repaid and he simply looked at her for several moments. The idea of stepping away from Maxine and trying to live a regular life did seem enticing. However, one thing that was likely to him was that he would be in a similar predicament to the one that he had been in before he met her. It was not something that he wanted but he also realised that there was danger with staying with her. Despite this she was the only person that he could truly consider a friend.

"I-I'm not sure ma'am," answered Charles.

"You may take your time and there's no need to call me ma'am anymore," replied Maxine. "You may call me Maxine."

"Ok Maxine. Is it alright if I have a little time to think about it?" This would at least be something to distract him from his troubles.

"As you wish, we can continue on to Flea Bay if you want and then after that you can decide what you want to do. Now eat up, we still have some distance to go."

Slowly Charles did as he was told as he ate the food that was in front of him. It did take him much longer than it normally did and when they were done, he found himself walking alongside Maxine again. It was difficult to hear the sound of nature thanks to the clanking of her armour as she walked.

After picking up parts of her armour he found it incredible to think that someone could move around in the manner that she could with all the weight she was carrying. Once again this was merely a distraction for him as he thought about the proposition that he had been given. A couple of different scenarios went through his head.

The first was that he did leave Maxine and tried to make his way in the world alone like he had done before he had met her. He was sure that his skills would allow him to gain some kind of meaningful employment and if he was lucky, he might be able to meet the right woman. After that he could start his own family and live a mundane and uneventful life. It was one that seemed appealing to him but it would also be difficult to attain if things didn't go the way that he wanted.

On the other hand, the option of staying with Maxine was also one that was on his mind. He would see and experience things that very few people ever could. There was definitely adventure with staying with her but as he knew there was much danger as well. What had taken place the night before but it also meant that he would simply be with her. During their time together he had gained a great amount of respect for her. It was not her size, strength or even skill with the blade that had earned this respect. Instead it was her hard work and determination. She was trying to do something that was practically unheard of in Angleland and no matter how many people told her that she couldn't do it she continued with her goal regardless.

Something else that he knew was that she wouldn't harm anyone that she felt didn't deserve it. The one time that she did strike him was when he accidentally didn't address her father with the correct title and even then, she apologised to it shortly afterwards. If he remained with her, he knew that she would never harm him and always use every skill that she possessed to keep him safe.

His thoughts were still distracted and it was only when he noticed a bush nearby move that he suddenly took notice. This startled him and it seemed that Maxine hadn't noticed beforehand.

There was some fear from Charles as he was still anxious. There was still a good chance that it was just another rabbit or small woodland creature. However, his reaction had been noticed by Maxine who stopped where she was and suddenly looked down at him. She could see him looking over at the bush that had moved.

"What is it?" asked Maxine. Her voice was somewhat softer but there was still a serious tone in it.

"I-I saw something over there," replied Charles as he pointed towards the bush. His fear was increasing and a small part of him even considered running. However, he knew that he was safer with her rather than being away from her.

"Stay here, I'll check it out." With that she began to step toward the bush and it was fairly large, much larger than Charles. In comparison to her it looked quite small but she placed her hand on her hilt just in case anything was to happen.

Once again, the sound of her armour impacting itself as she moved did prevent her from hearing whatever could be lurking in the bush. She thought that either Charles was imagining things or it would be something that wouldn't be a threat. As far as she thought, there was no one physically stronger than herself outside of her family.

Carefully she moved some of the leaves of the bush and she could see that there was indeed something inside. Quickly she grabbed onto whatever it was inside and pulled it out so that she and Charles could take a good look at it. They were surprised to see that rather than seeing some kind of animal it instead was merely a boy.

His messy brown hair shook quite violently as he was kicking at Maxine in order to try and force her to break her grip on the back of his collar. This was a futile gesture as there was no chance of him even touching her. Even if he could his attack would do no damage to the armoured giantess.

The boy's clothes seemed to be quite messy as well and somewhat simple looking. It was obvious to both of them that this boy came from no wealth and was merely a peasant much like they had. He didn't even seem to be intimidated by Maxine's size and continued to kick at her.

"What are you doing hiding in bushes like that?" asked Maxine. Her voice was sharp and fairly loud like it had been before. It was a voice that Charles recognised, she would use it when she was making herself sound important or making a point.

"What's it to you?" replied the Boy disrespectfully. He continued to try and escape her grip but once again he was having little luck. However, from his struggling on thing did happen. This was a small pocket knife fell to the ground and had to drop some distance before hitting the ground. This caused both Maxine and Charles to look down at it before they looked at the boy. Carefully Charles did step toward it and picked it off the ground, it was no mere toy and instead an actual knife. However, it didn't seem to be particularly sharp, it could likely cut a person if they weren't careful but it couldn't actually do that much damage. There was some dread from Charles as seeing the knife made him think about what had happened the night before. If it had been a more intimidating looking knife, he would have had a full-blown panic attack. Instead he was still relatively calm.

"Children shouldn't be carrying around weapons." Her voice wasn't changing and if anything, it seemed like her patience was running thin. "Now tell me, what are you doing in the bushes!"

"Why should I tell an overgrown freak like you?" He had noticed her size and how easily she was able to lift him. Even so it seemed to not have deterred him, this meant that he was either incredibly brave or stupid.

"You really try my patience boy! Any more of that and you'll be receiving the back of my hand!" She could see that the boy seemed to be around the same age as one of her younger sisters. It seemed that his actions were also beginning to tire him out as his kicks were coming less frequently.

"M-Ma'am," stated Charles as he stepped forward. It seemed that for the moment he forgot that he didn't have to call her ma'am anymore but right now it wasn't important. "Maybe I can try something."

"If you want to Charles, but don't let him out of our sight. I know that he's doing something that he shouldn't."

"Well first I think that you should put him down." With that Maxine did as she was asked as she lowered the boy back down to the ground. He was still struggling and when his feet touched the ground he did consider running. But he did notice that she kept a hold of the back of his collar. There was no chance of him breaking out of her grip so for the time being he was stuck there.

"I'm keeping an eye on you." Her voice was still stern and she didn't seem to be letting up at all. In response the boy simply bobbed his tongue out at her in a form of mockery towards her. Rather than reacting she kept herself calm enough to not strike him for is absolute rudeness.

"Hello there," said Charles in a somewhat friendly voice. He wanted to see none threatening to the boy. This was far from what Maxine was as she simply watched over. "We seem to have gotten off on the wrong foot. My name is Charles and I see that you've met my friend Maxine."

"You mean the giant bitch that won't let me go," replied the Boy. There was a loud and annoyed grunt from Maxine as it took all of her willpower not to strike him.

"What are you doing out here all by yourself? Where are your parents?"

"Wouldn't you like to know."

"Answer the question!" shouted Maxine in a loud and very intimidating voice. Not only did the boy flinch but so did Charles as neither of them had entirely expected it.

"I-I don't have any parents. They've been dead for years."

"I'm terribly sorry to hear that," replied Charles. This was something that hit home to him as well as he too had lost his parents at a young age. It was also the calmest that he had been all day and it seemed like giving his mind something to focus on was helping him in some way. "But still, what are you doing out here all by yourself?"

"I-I'm taking care of myself, like I always have done and no one can stop me!" It seemed that he was more defiant than anything else and Charles could see the look in the boy's eyes that he was going to be trouble.

"And how exactly are you taking care of yourself?" He looked at the boy again and could see that he was very muddy. His hair was a mess and he was even looking a little thin. "You don't look to be doing very well to me."

"I can get by alright by myself. Now let go of me!"

"You couldn't have been living in this forest for so long before we found you. If your parents have died so long ago then that means that someone else has been taking care of you. Who has been doing that?"

"I lived in an orphanage but I ran away and doing fine by myself." He struggled again but Maxine's iron like grip on his collar wasn't budging in the slightest. Instead she simply watched over him. She did feel some sympathy towards her but not enough to prevent her from striking him if she felt like he deserved it.

"Then they're most likely worried sick about you. If I was you, I'd go back to them and apologise for running away."

"I'd rather die than apologise to them." Before he could say anything, he felt himself get lifted up into the air again. "Hey what are you doing?"

"If you're from an orphanage then I'm taking you back there," replied Maxine who sounded like her patience was running thin. She placed the boy under her arm as if he was a pile of sticks or a hunted animal rather than a boy. "We're not leaving you in a forest to look after yourself."

"Put me down!" He continued to punch and kick as much as he could but this did little to stop Maxine. She just held him there and he was completely helpless. Charles knew not to get too close as he didn't want to get hit.

"I've been by this way a few times and I remember there being an orphanage just a few miles away. If we hurry, we can take this brat back there and make it to Flea Bay before it gets dark. Are you coming along as well?"

"Y-Yeah I'll come ma'am," replied Charles. He still called her ma'am even though he didn't have to. The idea of going to an orphanage didn't seem to be that dangerous. But he had thought the same when they went to stay at the tavern.

"Alright then. It shouldn't be too difficult to find." She could still hear the boy kicking and complaining but the armoured giantess simply chose to ignore it. His actions were also beginning to tire him out.

With their minds set Maxine began the walk towards the nearby orphanage. She had suspected that the boy had come from there but she hadn't wanted to take him there if he actually had parents. The fact that he didn't only added to her need to take him back to where he came from.

Neither she nor Charles were taking the boy back to be cruel. It was obvious to both of them that he wasn't doing particularly well while he was living by himself. Taking him back was the best way to ensure that he got the care that he needed. Charles did still keep a short distance away from them.

He didn't stay too far away however as he didn't want to be without Maxine's protection. As long as she was around and wasn't in a drugged-up state, she would protect him against any threat. He also wasn't sure what was going to happen with taking the boy to the orphanage, with how things had gone for the both of them there was a chance that they would have some kind of interesting experience. Or more likely it would simply be mundane and uneventful.