Chapter 165: A Grand Gift Giveaway

The next morning, Little Will arrived at the Odd Jobs Agency alone, and after a full meal, he began his gift-giving spree.

Chef Meat Mountain’s gift was a kitchen knife, a sixty-refined magic runic steel kitchen knife. This gift brought a wide smile to Meat Mountain’s face, while everyone else looked as if they had seen a ghost. This item was definitely newly forged, and Senior Knight Molly confirmed it, saying, “This is the only magic runic equipment the Scholar successfully forged yesterday at the newly acquired blacksmith shop after seven attempts, scrapping six steel kitchen knives in the process. Although the quality is a bit low, it can still barely be considered magic runic equipment.”

“Thanks, little brother Scholar! I asked that Master Craftsman guy a dozen times before, and he just cursed me out, saying he’d never forge such a low-grade item. That’s outrageous! A chef’s weapon should be a kitchen knife, and being a chef is a profession, so how can he call it a low-grade item? Little brother Scholar is a sensible person. From now on, I’ll specially make a grand meal for you!” Meat Mountain was overjoyed, feeling that chopping vegetables would be smoother with this knife.

The old painter’s gift was a set of high-grade painting tools. The paintbrushes were engraved with magic runes for stamina recovery and tranquility, which could restore a little bit of stamina and help him calm down, making him quite satisfied. “Not bad, not bad. You have the qualifications to replace Master Craftsman.” This was an implicit acknowledgment that he was a logistics person, which was exactly what Little Will wanted, otherwise his mother would worry too much.

Brute Loli’s gift was a life-sized plush bear, the least distinctive item, yet made from monster beast hide. It was durable and surely comfortable to hug while sleeping. It was also stuffed with some dried magical plants, which had certain benefits for the body. The little loli received her desired gift and became even closer to Little Will. If her previous closeness to Little Will was merely an instinctive reaction due to bloodline, then her current closeness to Little Will was a heartfelt feeling.

Cat Girl received a lady’s beauty guide from Majesties and a set of high-end casual wear. If one had to put a price on it, fifty gold coins might not be enough to buy it, as it came from the hands of Majesties, a third-level wizard apprentice.

Black Merchant received a foldable hiking backpack with over twenty pockets of various sizes. Its comprehensive functionality surprised even Black Merchant. The materials used were also monster beast hides, and the exquisite craftsmanship left him marveling. However, he didn’t stand on ceremony. He had given the Scholar essence stone liquid, and though the return gift was slightly less valuable, it was very practical and thoughtful. Black Merchant felt he hadn’t lost out.

The Beast Tamer received a set of clothing called a performance costume, complete with a very funny clown mask, and a training manual. The contents of the manual made the Beast Tamer’s eyes widen. “Can I… can I perform on stage again?”

“That depends on your own performance.” Little Will didn’t put too much pressure on him. It was just something to fool children; the main thing was his own efforts.

The Singer’s gift was also a set of splendid clothes and ten musical scores. “These pieces have been carefully selected by me. Some are elven, and some are classic human compositions from a thousand years ago.

How well you can perform them depends on you.”

“I guarantee I won’t disgrace these pieces!” The Singer vowed solemnly. But can a piece of music feel ashamed? The only ones who can be shamed, besides yourself, are me, your boss, right?

The Police Dog received a magic runic crossbow, an original item Little Will had obtained from another dimension, definitely worth a lot. The Police Dog was quite tempted but too embarrassed to accept it, as the gift was truly too precious.

“The Beast Tamer has already agreed to work for me, specifically in charge of taming cute animals. Pet mice and parrots are the main products, and other cute small animals are rare. If you pay a little attention while hunting, and perhaps catch some cute small animals or cubs, that would be even better.” Little Will gave him an out, and the Police Dog immediately vowed to set off right away, promising not to return until he found satisfactory cute animals.

Ice Cube herself was very strong and seemingly not short on money. Little Will prepared an album for her, filled with designs for cute clothes. This was also Majesties’ idea. Ice Cube was naturally delighted to receive this gift, yet she still thanked him with a poker face. However, Little Will keenly sensed her joy.

Stone’s gift was the latest published legendary storybook, something to read when bored, and Little Will promised to buy him the newest updates as soon as they came out. The Flower Guardian, however, received an order, an order from Miss Yuna Peck, as well as a template for a wood-attribute zero-level witchcraft, which made him overjoyed.

“Where’s my gift?” Seeing that everyone else had received satisfactory gifts, but she alone had none, Senior Knight Molly immediately became unhappy.

“Didn’t I already give it to you yesterday? Forty-five hundred gold coins.” Little Will’s words provoked a burst of laughter. Senior Knight Molly grabbed his face and began to knead it. “That was official business for the Odd Jobs Agency, not a gift for me! I want a gift, I want a gift, I want a gift! Important things must be said three times!”

“I found this book; you can take a look.” Little Will was prepared. After rescuing his face from Senior Knight Molly’s grip, he handed her a book. Senior Knight Molly was quite puzzled, but her eyes widened upon seeing the title: “Thorn Knight Combat Techniques: Elementary.”

How did this guy get something from the elves? Could she have just casually put something together to fool herself? Senior Knight Molly immediately began to read it carefully. The book covered everything from the origin to the characteristics of Thorn Knights, then moved on to their training and combat techniques. The text was filled with elven style, clearly not a human work, and the rhetoric seemed very ancient.

“An old item from a thousand years ago?” Senior Knight Molly began to doubt the origin of these things.

Little Will shook his head slightly. “Before that, the first time I was captured right under the Redeemer’s nose, he didn’t even know. At that time, I actually trespassed into someone else’s territory and saw a lot of information there. Because I was curious about elven knowledge, I recorded some. Later, I learned you were a Thorn Knight bloodline awakener, and after leaving that place, I demanded it from the Vampire Count. I also got a lot of other information at the same time. I had a lot of things going on before and just forgot about it. Yesterday, when I was thinking of preparing gifts for everyone, I remembered this treasure and translated a copy for you overnight, since the original was in ancient script, which you might not understand.”

The last sentence was superfluous. Although she definitely wouldn’t understand it, saying it like that was still hurtful, wasn’t it?

“Oh, and Meat Mountain, I also have a simple fast-food recipe here, called ‘Hamburger.’ You can use it in your bakery.” Little Will suddenly remembered the recipe the Devil Boy had mentioned to him. That guy had a physical body in the soul battlefield and had enjoyed himself for a few days. At that time, Little Will had learned some food preparation methods, and the simplest among them was this hamburger, but the taste was generally quite good.

“Hamburger? Never heard of it. Let me see.” Meat Mountain was a professional chef. The recipe was simple, but he immediately knew it was a good thing just by glancing at it. However, it had to be eaten hot to be delicious; it wouldn’t be as good cold. His eyes immediately lit up, and he declared, “Tonight’s main course will be this!”

After the gift distribution was complete, Little Will received a definite reply from Molly. Viscount Kendall was very satisfied with yesterday’s transaction. After confirming the authenticity of the dwarven forging technique, he decided to start renovating the Sist Theater for him today, even dispatching several wizard apprentices and a personal steward for this purpose, guaranteeing completion within ten days. Finally, he also promised to include some decent furniture as a bonus.

During the rest of the morning, Little Will found Angol, gave him a brief explanation of his arrangements for him, and asked for his opinion. Hearing that he could learn something that Senior Knight Molly had bought for thousands of gold coins, Angol’s interest immediately soared. Moreover, this was not just a skill but also a training method that could increase his strength, so why not? The two hit it off immediately. Little Will took Angol to the blacksmith shop and found that one of the fine kitchen knives, priced at two gold coins each, had already been sold, which made him quite curious. Who was so generous?

Angol was different from the two clumsy apprentices; he had some brains. Little Will therefore started by teaching him the most basic hammering techniques, allowing him to gradually familiarize himself with the force exertion of the hammer, and then had him try hammering ore blanks. It didn’t matter if he messed up; he could just start over. This was not an issue for him. Which master wasn’t fed by materials? Watching him hammer for more than ten minutes, Little Will corrected seven or eight mistakes for him, then let him rest for ten minutes, hammer for ten minutes, and try to maintain this schedule for the morning. In the afternoon, he would go for knight training. This schedule would be followed on every rest day, and on weekdays, half the time would be spent here, and half at the knight’s guild.

Seeing that Angol was already able to perform the first round of hammering quite decently, Little Will returned to his workbench. Under the admiring gazes of the two blacksmith apprentices, he began today’s forging: sixty-refined kitchen knives. No, no, no, today he wouldn’t forge kitchen knives, but sixty-refined fruit knives!

Forging fruit knives required more precision than kitchen knives. After three slightly ugly pieces, Little Will continuously forged five exquisite and sharp sixty-refined fruit knives, then had the two blacksmith apprentices place them on the shelves, each priced at three gold coins.

“Clang!” The fifteen-pound iron hammer in Angol’s hand fell to the ground. He asked with wide eyes, “Three gold coins for a fruit knife? Will anyone buy it?”

“Heh heh, you’re too naive. A sixty-refined item for three gold coins is actually too cheap, alright?” Little Will curled his lip. Don’t you know that some people in this world prefer to buy expensive things rather than the right things?

( = )