Catching the stalker

I have to deal with this before it gets outs of hand, Maximilian decided. Who knows what this stalker would do. So, on his way to the tavern he had spotted earlier, he ducked into a side alley and rushed down it, making sure to make lots of noise. As he popped out of the alley to a different street, he leaped to the side and hugged the side of the building. Now, anyone rushing through would sail past him. Or that was the plan.

And no plan survives contact with the enemy, he ruefully thought.

But this girl was no special forces operative. Just as he hoped, she rushed through the alley in a hurry to catch up with him, making it ridiculously easy for Maximilian to sweep the leg. With an ungraceful noise, the stalker fell over face first into the mud of the street, her inertia ensuring that all the air in her lungs was blasted out by the sudden and unplanned encounter with solid Earth. As she lay gasping for breath in the mud, Maximilian grabbed her hair and robe and dragged her back to the alley. No need to have passer-by witness what was about to happen!

Maximilian lifted the girl up and against the stone wall of the alley and kept one hand on her throat.
"Who are you! Why are you following me!" He asked in anger, hovering his fist menacingly next to her face. Unsurprisingly, the girl who lost her breath in the fall and could not regain it while being dragged upwards in a painful manner, could not answer. She just kept heezing and wheezing like an old vacuum cleaner Maximilian remembered from his youth. That thing had driven her mother mad, making those crazy noises but never actually cleaning anything. That thought made him realize that he was pushing hard.

Being able to breathe properly made wonders for the girl's complexion and, after coughing several times, she was ready to talk:
"I'm not stalking you! I swear!"
But this did not convince Maximilian, after all the girl had clearly been following him around. A question he pressed at her again.
"Okay okay, I only followed you because you seemed to have a plan and I don't know what to do", she explained, sobbing.
"Why are you crying", Maximilian asked in confusion, which only led to the girl bawling her eyes out.
"Wha- wha- what do you think? We- we- we were kkkkkkkkkkkicked oh-oh-oh-oh-out today and", she sniffled hard and brought the sleeve of her robe up to wipe her nose, before continuing:
"I don't have any money like those assholes who just went home, and I don't want to spend my life as the, as the, as the, ATCHOOO"
She sneezed so hard it made Maximilian release his grip on her but, perhaps unsurprisingly, she did not run away.
"As the magical whore of some noble", she sniffled hard at this point.
"So yeah, I followed you in the hope that there would be something I could copy or do to help myself", she admitted, still sniffling hard.

Maximilian thought hard about the issue. He was not heartless and he fully understood the plight the girl was in. Yet he was on a divine mission and he had to make his way to the Labyrinth as quickly as possible. Adding some baggage could only slow him down. On the other hand, he did not know exactly what he was supposed to do at the Labyrinth and having someone watching his back, someone who could do at least some magic, would be useful. He gave the girl another look and, sure enough, she was as cute as a button, with the willowy form of youth. Brunette hair, round face, small tits, plump lips, she was both desirable and nothing special at the same time.

"What's your name?", Maximilian asked, changing his stance. Without realizing it, he was towering over the short girl, looking down at her. But she certainly realized it as she swallowed nervously.
"Anna, my name is Anna. My family are nobodies, and they certainly don't need one more mouth to feed", she explains between sniffles.
"Hey Anna, my name is Maxi, I mean Max. My name is Max Wax", Maximilian cursed that stupid last name, "and I also come from nothing. But I have a plan that will make me a bunch of money and with that money, I'm going to conquer the Labyrinth. Now if that sounds insane to you, then you're free to go. Hell, I'll give you a coin to get you going", the geriatric-turned-teenager explained.

"But if you're up for it, I could use a girl to watch my back, especially a girl who can use magic", Max continued. He had unintentionally placed one of his hands against the wall, next to her head as he leaned forward to make sure nobody else could hear his words. But the effect on Anna was electrifying as her eyes grew large as saucers.