After waking up, Arkz tidied up his appearance inside the inn and began today's plan.
Today's tasks were to purchase plant seeds and some daily necessities within Mondstadt. If time permitted, Arkz also planned to plant the seeds today.
As he left the inn, Arkz couldn't help but click his tongue at the high costs of the Mondstadt inn.
The inn where Arkz was staying wasn't considered extremely high-end, yet the price was as high as 1000 Mora per night. Arkz spent 2000 Mora staying there for two nights.
If it weren't for the fact that the cottage on the farm hadn't been cleaned yet, and the bedding and pillows hadn't been replaced with new ones, Arkz wouldn't be staying at this inn.
Arkz had suspected whether this inn deliberately charged high prices to fleece customers because they saw he wasn't a local.
For this reason, Arkz searched for many inns, only to find that among those with slightly better environments, this one had the lowest price.
Like the best inn in Mondstadt, Goth Grand Hotel, where the most ordinary single room actually cost 2000 Mora a night. Thinking about how the Fatui had booked the entire Goth Grand Hotel in the story, Arkz couldn't help but be shocked by the Fatui's extravagance.
"Tsk tsk tsk, the Fatui are really rich!"
"Rich in what?"
"Venti!!!"
"Why are you here!!!"
Arkz was wandering the streets of Mondstadt, searching for a shop that sold seeds, when he happened to see the luxuriously decorated and eye-catching Goth Grand Hotel and couldn't help but exclaim.
He never expected the trash can on the roadside to speak!
Arkz opened the lid of the trash can and found Venti inside. After asking carefully, he learned that Venti had drunk all his Mora staying up all night at the tavern yesterday, so he planned to sleep on a roadside chair.
Perhaps because the wind in Mondstadt was too cold at night, the drunken Venti vaguely crawled into the trash can to hide from the cold night wind.
Looking at the dirty and smelly Venti, Arkz showed a look of disgust and quickly retreated to avoid the claws Venti extended.
Venti awkwardly retracted the hand he had extended, intending to rub against Arkz, then sniffed his own clothes and actually made a grimace.
Venti gave Arkz an apologetic smile, and the Vision at his waist flashed. A gentle breeze swirled around him, and when the breeze dissipated, Venti was completely clean and refreshed, showing no signs of having stayed in a trash can all day after a hangover.
Arkz stared at Venti, who looked as if he had just taken a bath and changed into new clothes, and exclaimed in shock: "Holy crap, the Anemo Element can be used like this!"
Arkz looked at Venti expectantly and asked, "Venti, can I learn this technique? That way I won't have to wash my clothes myself anymore."
Venti reached out and patted Arkz's shoulder. This time Arkz didn't dodge, because Venti's hand was quite clean.
Venti smiled brightly and cheerfully, "Of course, Arkz, we are sworn friends!"
"Hiss—that's not right, that's very, very not right."
"You agreed so easily? Venti, tell me honestly, you don't want something from me, do you?"
Venti stammered, "Well, um, we are sworn friends..."
Arkz said expressionlessly, "We only met yesterday."
Venti tried hard to explain, "From the first moment I saw you, I knew that this sworn friend, I, Venti, had to make!"
Arkz made a disgusted face, "I feel like you're confessing to me. Hurry up and tell me, or I'm leaving."
Venti quickly grabbed Arkz's sleeve, "(ε = ( ´ ο ｀ * ) ) ) Ah, no, no, don't."
"I'll tell you."
"Actually, I wanted to borrow some Mora from you to buy wine. Don't worry, I'll definitely pay you back when I earn money busking."
Arkz: "Why didn't you say so earlier? Here is ten thousand Mora, take it."
Venti was moved by Arkz's generosity, his eyes filling with tears, "Brother, don't worry, isn't it just wanting to learn Cleanse? I'll teach you right now."
"Even if I don't drink today, I have to teach you."
Arkz nodded firmly, "Good!"
A moment later, Venti looked blankly at the dendro vision in Arkz's hand, his eyes full of confusion.
He looked up at Arkz and found Arkz smiling innocently.
Venti's voice trembled, "Brother, you should have said you were a Dendro allogene earlier! Why would I teach you anything then!"
"Even if you don't know how to use the Anemo Element, I could still conjure a God of Wind for you..."
"The operation method is incompatible, big brother!"
Arkz thought for a moment, then took out another ten thousand Mora from his pocket and asked, "Plus this, can you do it?"
Venti hesitated, "This..."
Arkz continued to raise the price and took out another ten thousand Mora: "How about this one?"
Venti quickly snatched the Mora and said fiercely, "Yes! Absolutely yes! Brother."
"Today, even if you say you want to fly to the sky, I can make it happen for you."
Saying that, Venti grabbed the Mora and sprinted toward the tavern, shouting as he ran, "Brother, give me a few days, I promise I'll get it done for you!"
Arkz watched Venti's retreating back, always feeling like he had been tricked.
He lowered his head and thought for a moment, feeling that this deal was quite worthwhile.
For only thirty thousand Mora, he could get the God of Wind to call him 'Brother' and receive the magical little trick of manipulating Elemental Power called 'Cleanse' as a bonus.
"Hmm, this move isn't a loss."
When Arkz looked up, ready to leave, he found that Venti had run back again.
Arkz couldn't help but ask, "Why are you back?"
"Don't tell me you spent the thirty thousand Mora that quickly. I don't have any more Mora to lend you."
Venti shook his head and smiled, "Of course not. Arkz, I remember you said you had a farm yesterday, right? I thought you might still need this thing."
Arkz took the small package Venti handed over. Upon opening it, he found it contained extremely high-quality iridium dandelion seeds. Counting carefully, there were as many as fifteen!
Arkz asked in surprise, "Such good seeds, where did you buy them? I'll go buy some too."
Venti explained, "Why would I, a Bard, buy seeds? I picked these up from a trash can."
Saying that, Venti pointed to the trash can he had just climbed out of, "See, that trash can."
Arkz asked somewhat doubtfully, "You mean, seeds of such high quality were picked up from a trash can?"
Venti shrugged, "That's the fact. If you hadn't lent me so much Mora, I would have taken these seeds to Blanche's general store to sell. These seeds could fetch at least 5000 Mora."
"Although I don't know who threw such precious seeds into the trash can, why worry about it."
"Just consider these seeds as a gift from the God of Wind."
Saying that, Venti left like an NPC who had completed his quest, not waiting for Arkz's reply, waving his sleeve without stirring up a single cloud.
5000 Mora, no, these iridium dandelion seeds were worth far more than 5000 Mora!
If these seeds were given to an experienced farmer or a Dendro allogene to plant and cultivate meticulously over generations, they could yield countless iridium dandelion seeds, and the Mora earned from that would be uncountable.
However, to an outsider, the preciousness of these seeds wasn't entirely apparent. Even the most precious seeds might not be as valuable to them as a pretty wildflower by the roadside.
Carefully putting these precious dandelion seeds into his backpack, Arkz's eyes shone with excitement.
Arkz muttered to himself, "A gift from the God of Wind, Blanche's general store for recycling seeds."
"Venti, oh Venti, you truly brought me a big surprise."
"Whether you meant to or not, I'm set on being friends with you!"
It was just dawn, and there were only a few scattered pedestrians on the street; most Mondstadters were still immersed in their dreams. If it weren't for today's plan, Arkz would still be lazing in bed sleeping.
This sparsely populated environment gave Arkz a great opportunity—a great opportunity to rummage through trash cans!
"A gift from the God of Wind, a gift from the God of Wind!"
Arkz hummed a little tune he made up while excitedly turning over trash cans.
In Arkz's eyes, were these still trash cans? No, these were clearly treasure chests filled with valuables!
Arkz went along the street, turning over trash can after trash can, not minding the filth of the garbage at all, but regrettably, after turning over many, he didn't find any useful trash.
As time passed, the number of pedestrians on the street gradually increased. Enduring the strange looks from passersby, Arkz slowly began to doubt whether his judgment was correct.
Just as Arkz was about to give up, he finally hit the jackpot in the trash can behind The Good Hunter Restaurant!
Excited heart, trembling hands.
Arkz ignored the strange looks of passersby, and with a look of reverence, as if channeling a god, he pulled out the treasure from the trash can.
He carefully opened the package, and inside was a steaming hot, fragrant, freshly baked Mushroom Pizza. Arkz felt that all the grievances he suffered turning over trash cans along the way were worth it.
Although this was just a Mushroom Pizza worth only 500 Mora, it held extremely great significance for Arkz. It was affirmation of his judgment, and affirmation for all trash-pickers.
At this moment, Arkz solidified his belief.
There must be treasure in trash cans; if you haven't found treasure, it's just because you haven't looked enough.
Clutching the Mushroom Pizza, Arkz walked resolutely toward the outskirts of Mondstadt. He looked up at the sky, as if he saw a little grey-haired person giving him a thumbs-up.
"Amber, he took the pizza, right?"
"That's right, Acting Grand Master Jean, you are amazing. Hiding the pizza in the trash can allowed this poor person to fill his stomach while also preserving his dignity. It was indeed the right decision to go for a morning run with you, Acting Grand Master Jean."
"Haha, Amber, no need to praise me so much. As long as you have eyes that are good at observing and a heart that empathizes with others, you will be able to help everyone in Mondstadt like me and become a qualified and excellent Knight."
"Yes, Acting Grand Master Jean, I, Amber, promise you that I will definitely become a qualified and excellent Outrider!"
[Mora: 501, 200]