hmmm - if you got the quest first then there really shouldn't be a problem. I doubt that it has anything to do with patched or unpatched. I've always played unpatched (being one of those fortunate few who has never had any difficulty with the game)and just using the keyword has worked for me.
Did you choose "JOB" from the talk keyword window? Or did you type it in? Sometimes that can make a difference.
Well, whatever. I'll let you try going through the chat keywords one more time and if that still doesn't get results. Email Xignal (you can grab his email address off of any post here on the forum) and find out if it is okay with him that he hack you a dagger (otherwise, you can email me).
What you will need to send is: a copy of your gamexx.sav (xx = the number of the game save, they start at game00.sav which is the first save slot on the save menu). Please ZIP the file! These files are very large and ZIPping them up helps a lot!
If that isn't clear, or I have just confused you, email me!
Wyv