Chapter 577 Boss Mag, Do You Need Our Help?
In the residential area for the families of the deceased miners, the dilapidated gray bungalows had all been replaced by brand-new two-story houses. The walls had been painted in vibrant colors like green, blue, pink, and a whole host of other exuberant shades, giving one a false impression that it was spring even though autumn had already arrived.
There were many dwarven artisans running around busily between the houses, while powerful orcs did the grunt work. The women and the elderly were painting the walls in exuberant colors, and the smiles on their faces were as vibrant as the colors of the paint being applied.
A group of children was running joyfully along the bluestone-paved paths, kicking around a crude football that had been constructed from vines.
One of the children kicked the ball through the air, and it just so happened to land in front of a bicycle before being crushed by the bicycle’s front tire.
“Screech-“
Mag hurriedly applied the brakes, but it was already too late; the football had already been flattened into a pancake of vines. All of the children wore dumbstruck expressions as they stared at Mag’s bicycle, and then at their crushed ball.
“Waaah, he crushed our ball! We’ve got nothing to play with now!” A child who appeared to be around four or five years of age burst into tears first. His sobs were seemingly contagious as the 20 or so children with him all burst into tears, causing a loud commotion that drew many adults to the scene.
“Don’t cry, I’ll get you an even better ball, how’s that?” Mag hurriedly waved his hands to try and soothe the children.
“It’s Amy’s father!” A pleasantly surprised voice suddenly erupted from the group of children. A little girl squeezed her way forward before rushing over to Mag with a joyful expression. She looked up at Mag, and asked, “Are you here to see me? Where’s Amy? Did she come with you?”
“That’s right, I’m here to visit you, Jessica. Amy has lessons today, so she couldn’t make it, but you’ll be able to see her tonight.” Mag patted Jessica’s head with a smile on his face. She was still just as adorable as ever.
“It’s you! You’re the man from that day!” An elderly man’s eyes lit up as he identified Mag.
All of the adults who were concerned that something had happened to their children were also overjoyed at the sight of Mag. They had clearly also identified their savior.
“Thank you, thank you for saving all of us.” The elderly man fell to his knees and began to kowtow to Mag.
Everyone else also fell to their knees and dragged their kids down with them as they kowtowed to Mag.
“Please get up, everyone, I only did something that was to be expected of me.” Mag hurriedly set his bicycle aside and helped the elderly man to his feet. Only then did everyone else rise to their feet, but their eyes were still filled with gratitude as they looked at Mag.
The sobbing kids looked down at their flattened ball, then up at Mag, and even though there were still tears shimmering in their eyes, none of them were crying anymore.
Mag looked at all those pairs of bright eyes with complex emotions surging through his heart. All of them were wearing new clothes, and were already looking much healthier than when he last saw them, but what they had now was something that they should’ve had all along. They shouldn’t have to be so grateful to him just for the basic rights that they were entitled to.
The entire crowd fell silent, and Mag was at a loss for words as well. After a brief awkward silence, Mag pointed at the houses with a smile, and said, “Your new houses are very beautiful.”
Everyone smiled upon hearing that.
“Mr. Mag! Welcome!” Rebecca rushed out of a pink house with an elated expression while holding a piece of fabric that she was working on.
“I’m here to visit Jessica.” Mag nodded with a smile.
“Please come in and have some water,” Rebecca hurriedly offered.
Mag was also beginning to feel uncomfortable from the widespread scrutiny he was receiving, and he nodded to acknowledge everyone before entering the pink house with Rebecca and Jessica.
The floor in the house was paved with bluestone to create a level and clean surface. The house was virtually empty with the exception of a set of secondhand table and chairs, but it was still a considerable improvement compared to the dilapidated house they were living in before.
“Please have a seat; I’ll get some water for you.” Rebecca went to another room, presumably the kitchen. Mag sat down in a chair, while Jessica sat across from him with her chin in her hands, seemingly deep in thought. Mag smiled, and asked, “What are you thinking about, Little Jessica?”
“I’m wondering if Amy is going to come over later as you told me just then that I’d be able to see her tonight.” Jessica’s eyes were glowing with anticipation.
“Amy won’t be coming tonight, but I’m here to invite you to a moon festival celebration tonight. You’ll be able to see Amy there. Would you like to come?” Mag asked with a smile.
“A festival celebration? Can I really come?” Jessica’s eyes lit up with disbelief as she looked at Mag.
“Of course. You and your mother can both come.” Mag nodded in response.
“I couldn’t trouble you again.” Rebecca emerged from the other room with a bowl of water in her hands and a rather embarrassed expression on her face.
“Not at all. I’ll be inviting a lot of people tonight, so the more, the merrier. I would love for you to come with Jessica.” Mag took a sip from the bowl of the water, and found that the water’s quality had improved significantly since last time.
Rebecca looked at Mag’s genuine expression, then at Jessica’s expectant gaze, and hesitated momentarily before nodding as she said, “Then we’ll be in your care.”
“Yay! I love celebrations!” An elated smile appeared on Jessica’s face.
Mag turned to look at the fabric and thread on the table. There was a blossoming flowered sewn onto the fabric, and it looked a little like embroidery. A curious look appeared on his face as he asked, “Are you doing embroidery?”
“Embroidery?” Rebecca turned to Mag with a quizzical expression. She saw that Mag was looking at the piece of fabric she had been working on, and an embarrassed look appeared on her face as she said, “I’m just sewing for a textiles shop. The city lord’s castle gave us all of the compensation that was withheld before, and they said that Jessica would have a chance to go to school, so I wanted to do some jobs to earn money for Jessica’s tuition.”
“Going to school is a good idea.” Mag nodded as picked up the piece of fabric from the table. He examined it carefully, only to find that the embroidery was very intricate and well done.
“Boss Mag, here’s a dragon coin. We’ve received our compensation and the city lord’s castle has built new houses for us, so I can return the money to you now. Thank you so much.” Rebecca pulled a dragon coin out of her pocket and offered it to Mag with a grateful expression.
“I’m sure things will only get better from here.” Mag accepted the dragon coin and finished all of the remaining water in the bowl. He then got with a smile, and said, “I look forward to seeing you two tonight. Amy really misses Little Jessica.”
“Alright, I’ll be sure to come with Jessica.” Rebecca nodded as she bade farewell to Mag.
“System, give me a football,” Mag requested internally, and a football soon appeared in the basket at the front of his bicycle. He pushed his bicycle toward the group of children, who all wore dejected expressions as they tried to force their crushed vine pancake back into a ball shape.
“Sorry for squashing your ball, kids. Here’s a new one for you.” Mag grabbed the football and offered it to the kids, who were all looking at him with resentful expressions.
The children’s eyes immediately lit up at the sight of the football. The perfectly round football with black and white pentagons and hexagons on its surface was clearly far more superior to their crude vine ball.
“Make sure not to kick this ball into sharp places or into windows.” Mag tossed the football toward the children as he offered some words of caution.
The children burst into spontaneous cheers as they rushed toward the football.
Mag shook his head with a smile before departing
Following the conclusion of the lunch service, Mag began to prepare for the upcoming moon festival celebration. News of this celebration had already spread far and wide, and many people were preparing to attend.
Of course, only Mamy Restaurant’s regular customers were paying a lot of attention to this news. Those who were unfamiliar with the restaurant merely thought that it was just a marketing tactic. After all, similar marketing events were very common in the Aden Square, and larger restaurants gave out even more attractive dishes for free. Meanwhile, this restaurant was only giving out this so-called mooncake which no one had ever heard of, so there were many people who were feeling rather skeptical.
“The makeshift stage is ready. Miya, Aisha, you two carry the mooncakes onto the stage, I’ll go make some more. We could be getting a lot of customers tonight.” At the entrance of the restaurant, Mag wore an apron that was covered in flour as looked at Mobai and the others, who were helping him set up a makeshift stage.
“Boss Mag, do you need our help?” Xixi and Lulu approached him with smiles on their faces.
“If possible, I’d like you two to help us carry some of the finished mooncakes,” Mag replied with a smile.