Retribution
"Why did you do this?!"
All sorts of intense emotions churned in the child's heart, and his eyes reddened.
"Why!?"
The child shouted.
But his hoarse voice kept it from sounding as loud as he had imagined.
"I never did anything bad to you..."
A hint of a sob crept into the child's voice.
He was angry and aggrieved.
Why...
Why was the old man doing so many awful things to him?
Why...
The child felt the emotions in his heart swelling like a balloon.
It was so bloated that his whole body felt awful.
He felt a little nauseated, as if he might throw up.
The sense that the balloon was about to burst kept the child tense and on guard.
The child felt worse and worse.
"This is your retribution."
The "old man" was completely unmoved by the child's emotions and spoke in an utterly nonchalant tone.
The child froze.
Re... retribution?
What was that?
The child didn't really understand what those two words meant.
His confusion briefly calmed the child's emotions.
"...What?"
The child hesitated for a long while, but finally asked,
"What does retribution mean?"
"It means the things I've done to you."
The "old man" answered every question.
Like a robot programmed to answer questions.
The child: ...
The things the old man had done to him...
The things that had made him unlucky...
"...That's retribution?"
The child murmured.
"Mm."
The "old man" nodded.
"Retribution."
"...Why?"
The child didn't understand.
"Why am I being punished like this?"
"Did I do something wrong?"
"Yes."
The "old man" nodded firmly. "You did something wrong."
"So you have to be punished."
The child's mouth fell open.
His heart beat uneasily.
He clenched his hands.
"...I did something