Chapter 14: The Price of a [Gnosis]
"Please, I'm begging you." Venti looked at Roshin with pitiful eyes.
Having finally found an opportunity to indulge in apple cider, Venti naturally didn't want to let it slip away.
"Fine, for the sake of Lord Barbatos," Roshin replied generously.
Though Roshin knew that stringing Venti along would be the most profitable approach.
If Venti wanted free drinks, he'd develop a craving. That craving would naturally lead to commissions, and commissions would yield Primogems.
While it probably wouldn't be as extravagant as this time—40 Primogems and other rewards—the base reward of five Primogems was still guaranteed.
Over time, accumulating them little by little wouldn't be bad.
But… human interactions should still have a bit of sincerity.
Besides, this Anemo Vision had already given Roshin far more than he expected.
The moment Roshin and Venti shook hands, Venti appeared in Roshin's friend list.
Strangely enough, Venti was currently the only friend in Roshin's talent panel interface.
And once a friend was unlocked, Roshin could purchase their items and abilities.
The most eye-catching among them were…
[Gnosis] (Item): 10,000 Primogems
[Elemental Body: Anemo] (Constitution): 2,000 Primogems
Though an Anemo Vision couldn't compare to an Anemo Gnosis, Roshin felt a 10-pull was worth it.
So even if it meant missing out on a few daily commissions, the tavern wouldn't have only Venti as a patron—there was no need to milk him dry.
Besides, since Venti still had his Gnosis, it meant the main storyline hadn't begun yet. These small commissions were just minor gains. If their friendship deepened enough, when Stormterror's rampage occurred, Roshin could take on that commission and make a fortune.
"Oh, right. Since I awakened an Anemo Vision, I'm in a good mood, so I've decided to give you a little something," Roshin suddenly said to Venti.
"What kind of gift?" Venti blinked.
Venti suddenly felt that this young man, who had seemed pleasant from the start, was treating him exceptionally well.
The owner of this tavern was such a kind person.
It was just a shame the tavern was so quiet.
"You mentioned wanting something that could record your voice and play it back, right? I happen to have one at home—I can give it to you." Roshin was in high spirits after obtaining the Vision.
What Roshin was referring to was a recorder. Coincidentally, he had an old, unused MP4 lying around at home, which he could give to Venti.
"Ah, I couldn't possibly accept that. Besides, a bard is meant to bring songs to others with their own hands. Using a machine feels a bit strange," Venti said, scratching his head.
"It has a lot of songs from another world—maybe they'll inspire you," Roshin added.
"W-well…" Venti was tempted but also a little embarrassed.
Honestly, Venti usually acted indifferent or even shameless about certain things. But when faced with someone like Roshin, who kept offering him drinks and strange gifts, even Venti found it hard to handle.
"No need to be polite. I just need to go home to handle some small matters. I'll be back soon. In the meantime, could you watch the shop for me?" Roshin said to Venti as he stepped out from behind the bar.
"You're really entrusting your shop to a drunkard like me? This is a tavern, you know," Venti replied, surprised.
This sudden trust was rather unexpected.
"The problem is, there isn't any alcohol in this tavern. If you can find even one bottle, I'll admit defeat," Roshin retorted, rolling his eyes before pushing the door open and leaving.
All the alcohol in this tavern was bought and sold on the spot by Roshin—how could there possibly be any extra?
Once outside, Roshin reappeared on the second-floor balcony.
Glancing back at the tavern, he noticed the faint, ghostly figure was still there. Moreover, unless someone deliberately pushed the door open, the tavern could be treated as if it didn't exist, allowing free passage.
Lost in thought, Roshin pulled out Red Wolf's frying pan from his Inventory.
This time, Roshin had stepped out not only to give Venti an extra reward but also because the tavern had alerted him—someone with malicious intent was approaching his home.
The lights on the second floor of Roshin's house were off, so standing on the balcony, he remained hidden in the darkness, undetectable.
Moving silently to the edge of the balcony, Roshin looked down and spotted a figure with dyed blond hair lurking under the dim light on the first floor.
"It's him again. Here for revenge?" Roshin muttered to himself.
The intruder was none other than the blond-haired troublemaker Roshin had knocked out with a brick at school.
Although the security in Roshin's neighborhood was fairly strong, with comprehensive surveillance, it wasn't too difficult to climb over the walls if one ignored the cameras.
After all, security guards couldn't be everywhere at once, so sneaking in wasn't a huge challenge.
The cameras would likely catch it, but for someone like the blond-haired guy, getting caught didn't matter—he was just here to beat someone up.
Of course, it was also possible he had found some loophole to slip in unnoticed.
The blond-haired guy felt incredibly unlucky. Earlier that day, while trying to steal a bike, he had been caught red-handed by the owner. Getting caught was bad enough, but who would've thought the guy would pull a brick out of his Inventory and knock him out cold?
What kind of lunatic carries a brick in their Inventory? Was this guy insane?
Then again, considering how the guy was always doing good deeds like some kind of fool, maybe he really did have a screw loose.
But that wasn't the worst part. What really stung was when the blond-haired guy, sporting a massive bump on his head, went to the school security to report Roshin—only to be completely dismissed.
"Roshin hit you? Don't make me laugh. He's a model student—there's no way he'd get into a fight. Stop messing around and get out of here," the guard had scoffed.
The school security didn't believe a word of it.
With no witnesses and no surveillance in the bike storage area, nobody took the blond-haired guy's story seriously.
Frustrated, he even stormed off to the police station, which wasn't far from the school—just a short walk away.
But as luck would have it, just as he was about to file a report, an older officer overheard him accusing Roshin of assault and burst out laughing.
"Alright, the police station is so close to the school. You can't seriously think no one's heard about your school bully antics, right? Roshin is a model student who's brave enough to stand up against injustice, even ambushed bank robbers, and been on TV. Why would he beat you up for no reason? If you got beaten, you definitely deserved it. If you keep spouting nonsense, you'll be spending the next couple of days in here. It's not like you've ever done anything good anyway."
And just like that, the delinquent was kicked out.
The delinquent was utterly baffled. All he did was mess with Roshin's bicycle, yet he was the one who got beaten up. Why didn't anyone believe him?
The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. He felt like he was about to turn to the dark side. He decided to go to Roshin's house and give him a beating.
Of course, taking a few things as compensation for emotional distress was only natural.