Kolsten found himself in front of a lake, he was lying on the grass and he saw a basket near him, there was a note on top of the basket saying "A Gift." Kolsten got excited and opened the basket, he saw tens of tuna sandwiches. Kolsten loved two things more than anything, first was humans and the second one was tuna sandwiches, he gained his love for tuna sandwiches because he had to work long hours of jobs and because of that sandwiches were the best meals for him.
Kolsten picked up a tuna sandwich and ate it, and then realized something his hands were young again, he checked his body and his body was young too. He wanted to see his new face so he walked to the lake to see his own reflection and there he saw a young healthy man with short red hair and red eyes wearing a white shirt and a red waistcoat.
He was happy to see himself as a young healthy man but he was also sad about seeing not seeing the young himself, he was just another person. He wasn't going to start his new life sad so he smiled, he picked up his basket and started to look for settlements, after walking for two hours he saw a village.
When he entered the village, he found the streets empty and deserted, the houses were in a bad shape as well. It seemed like this village was abandoned but then he saw a figure in a narrow street, this caught his attention and so he started to walk there, he saw an old man with a long white beard, the old man looked like he was a homeless, he also looked like he was starving and the old man noticed Kolsten.
"What are you doing here noble boy?"
Because of his clothes, the old man thought Kolsten as a noble, Kolsten smiled and responded.
"I am not a noble. I wish to know the direction of the nearest city."
"Just follow the road."
"Thanks! Let me give you something for your kindness."
Kolsten knew this old man was starving so he picked up a couple of tuna sandwiches from his basket and handed it to the old man, he started to eat them, after eating them the old man stood up and then got on his knees again.
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"Please, give me more."
"Okay!"
Kolsten picked up more sandwiches and handed the old man sandwiches but this wasn't enough for the old man he asked more and more until it reached a point that half of the basket was empty, the old man sat down with a full stomach, he was still licking his fingers, he turned to Kolsten with a smile on his face.
"Thanks, young man. I will take you to the city."
"Oh, thanks!"
Their conversation was full of thanks because Kolsten loved helping people and the old man loved eating food, Kolsten picked up his basket and they started to walk to the city and on their way, they started to talk about themselves.
"You gave half of your food to somebody you don't know. Why?"
"Oh, I just love helping people."
"You never dropped your smile, why is that?"
"I don't know, I just want to smile. So why is that village so empty?"
"That's because no one wants to pay the village's debt."
"Debt?"
The old man stopped and so did Kolsten after seeing the old man stop, the old man was about to cry, Kolsten hated seeing humans cry but he wasn't able to do anything to ease his pain and then the old man started to speak
"One day a flood struck the village. To rebuild the houses, we needed money and merchants didn't give us money. So we went to the bandits for some and they accepted it with interest. Next harvest was a failure because of goblins eating our corps. We had no way of paying and so when the bandits arrived they just killed and raped. I was the only one left because they needed someone to pay the debt and I was the village chief. I worked my ass off to pay the debts but they kept adding interest and I just gave up."
"I see, that's sad. How much is your debt?"
"Around ten thousand gold, a king can't even pay that much. Well, who cares about that, what is your name, young man?"
"Kolsten."
"What a weird name! Though mine is weirder Aleriant."
Aleriant laughed, Kolsten wanted to get rid off his debts somehow and he got an idea but kept quiet about it. After walking for a while they reached the city, It was a port town with big walls, the gate was so huge that the size of the gate was equal to a house. There were merchants passing through the gate and they had to pay a sum but Kolsten and Aleriant passed through the gate because Aleriant knew some people from there, after reaching the city Kolsten noticed something.
"Hey, mister, how much does a horse cost here?"
"Around three gold coins, why?"
After getting his answer, Kolsten started to run, leaving his basket behind, Aleriant was surprised and so he yelled to Kolsten.
"Where are you going!"
Aleriant yelled but Kolsten didn't stop. There was a captain with a long black beard, he looked like a pirate because of his red coat, his black pirate captain hat and a hook as his hand, the captain was getting on his ship, Kolsten ran up to him and yelled with a smile on his face.
"Hello! I would like to sell my hand!"