Second World

"Uh… Um…," Jack never thought of bringing any gift.

"Bwahaha…! Look at your face! I got you good, didn't I?!" Thelgrun burst into laughter. His beard rocked back and forth as his body shook.

"Oh…? Oh! You are joking, hahaha… Good one, mister president! Haha," Jack joined the laughter.

The laughter slowly died down. As it ended, Thelgrun said, "Hah… that was a good laugh. Okay, seriously now, what did you bring for our first meeting?"

"Oh…?" 'Shit! He was not kidding about the gift,' Jack cursed within.

"You are… You didn't come here empty-handed, did you?" Thelgrun asked.

Jack paused for a beat before saying, "Of course not! I'm not that bad-mannered!"

Peniel, who was sitting on one of Jack's shoulders rolled her eyes. She knew Jack never thought about bringing any gift. He was indeed a bad-mannered person when it came to socializing.

"These are my gift!" Jack said and took out one hundred adamantine ores from his inventory. He thought that considering dwarves lived inside caves, they should like rocks, and by extensions, ores. He figured giving unique-grade ores should be a decent enough gift.

He was observing the president's expression, though. He was not sure if one hundred was a large enough number. If it was not enough, he would add the quantity.

When Jack saw Thelgrun's brows turned into a frown. He quickly fished out another one hundred adamantine ores and said at the same time, "I'm kidding, mister president! My gift is actually two hundred adamantine ores!"

Thelgrun's brows now lifted and his eyes were rather wide. Jack was still observing the dwarf. He was not sure what to make of Thelgrun's current expression. He was ready to go all out and give the dwarf his entire stock of adamantine ores if needed.

"This… King Storm Wind, you are… a very generous friend!" Thelgrun exclaimed.

"Oh… hahaha, you are welcome. It is only fitting that I give such gifts to a president such as you," Jack uttered.

Peniel sent Jack a thought, 'He would have been happy even if you just give him fifty of those ores.'

'Then why didn't you say that earlier?!' Jack chided.

'I like seeing your panicky expression,' Peniel replied with a silent chuckle.

Thelgrun was still watching the large piles of ores on the floor. He then looked at Jack with a bright smile. "Oh, come here, you. Come here! Come here!"

"Oh… Okay," Jack was not sure why Thelgrun asked him to approach but he complied.

Thelgrun jumped and hugged him when he came into range, which took Jack by surprise.

"A good friend, you are. A good friend. Themos didn't even bother to visit me despite our countries' friendly relationship. Hah!" Thelgrun said as he patted Jack's back while they were still hugging.

Jack was not sure what to make of this. If anyone saw them, he was pretty certain they looked like a father carrying his child in his arm rather than the first meeting between two sovereigns of different countries.

"All right, you can put me down now," Thelgrun said.

"O… Okay," Jack said and placed him back on the wooden stand.

Thelgrun jumped down from that stand, ran to a nearby table, and picked up a dwarf statue made of stone. He then gave it to Jack. Jack observed the statue. It was a sculpture depicting Thelgrun himself.

"Impressive craftmanship," Jack praised.

"I'm glad you like it. That's my gift to you," Thelgrun said.

Jack almost let go of the statue. He quickly used Inspect on the statue. Thinking that this thing might have a secret benefit.

*

Miniature Thelgrun Statue (Junk item)

For ornamental purpose

*

'Ju… Junk item…,' Jack could hardly believe the item's description. He gave the dwarf two hundred unique-grade ores to be exchanged with a f*cking junk item.

Jack tried his best to give a sincere smile. He didn't know if he succeeded, though.

"Thank you very much for your gift, mister president. I'm very glad. I'm sure I can find a good use for this statue," Jack said. In his mind, he added, 'Like throwing it into your face, you f*cker!'

"I know you will like it. Put it beside your bed so you can look at it every time you wake up and know that you have a friend in me!" Thelgrun said cheerfully. "Come, let us head to the throne room. I've prepared a festival to celebrate your visit."

"My pleasure," Jack replied. His socializing face wore a wide grin despite he was still cursing inside.

Thelgrun walked out the door merrily and asked Broban to arrange for someone to move the pile of adamantine ores to the vault. He saw some humans out there and gave them a friendly wave. Jack gestured for these humans to follow as well.

They came into a brightly lit spacious hall. Many seats had been arranged. Some dwarves were already sitting on them. Most probably dwarven nobles and the republic's officials.

Tables filled with food and refreshments were by the sides. At the end of the hall was a large throne, larger than the one in Thereath. Again, he wondered why the dwarf needed such a size. The throne could fit Thelgrun and four other dwarves on it.

Thelgrun sat on the throne, looking like a child on a giant's chair due to the proportion, and acted very naturally about it. He gestured for Jack to sit on a prepared chair right next to his throne. A chair that was very elegant but also very small. When Jack sat on it, he felt the armrests pressing his sides.

Jack cursed again within. They used such large furniture for themselves but they gave tiny sizes to the guests.

"The chair fits you perfectly! As if it was tailored especially for you. Don't you say so, King Storm Wind?" Thelgrun asked.

"Yes, it fits my size very well," Jack replied with a forced smile.

Diane and the others were also given seats by the side. Their chairs were also small sizes but less extravagant than Jack's. The Man was visibly uncomfortable due to him having the largest body compared to the others.

When the native dwarves saw Jet among the human guests. They stopped him before he sat on the prepared seat. Jet was confused when they took that seat away. Another chair was brought to replace the one they took. It was one with a larger size.

Jet then sat on it and fidgetted around to show how spacious his seat was, which annoyed The Man who sat next to him.

"Yo, dude. Do you mind if we change seats?" The Man asked.

Jet looked at the native dwarves before replying, "I don't want to offend our hosts, man. I'm sorry."