But that didn't quite fit the image of someone deliberately making him unlucky...
Wasn't that a little out of character?
What old immortal had so much time on his hands...
that he took pleasure in teasing people—
Uh.
Maybe not.
That old man had made trouble for him because he'd eaten his peaches.
He'd had a valid reason.
He was the one in the wrong.
But to come up with a punishment that kept making him unlucky...
He felt that the image he'd come up with was pretty fitting.
He was a somewhat wicked old man.
"You know..."
The middle-aged man grinned.
"My experience sounds a lot like a fairy tale, doesn't it?"
"...Though not one of those traditional fairy tales about truth, goodness, and beauty."
The middle-aged man gave a slight shrug.
"Actually, maybe that's not quite right..."
He rubbed his chin.
"After all, I was punished for doing something bad."
"From that perspective..."
"It actually does count as a traditional fairy tale, doesn't it?"
"Pfft."
The middle-aged man laughed.
"Am I actually the villain in a fairy tale?"
He shook his head slightly.
Wasn't that a little off?
He should've gotten the protagonist's part, the role of a hero of justice.
How had he ended up with the villain's role?
"Whether I was the protagonist or the villain..."
The middle-aged man stretched out his legs, raised his arms, and gave a huge yawn.
"That's all in the past."
There was no point in arguing over it now.
Unless...
The middle-aged man shook his head with a rueful laugh.
"...Back then, I really thought I'd have another chance to meet that old man I'd only encountered once..."
The old man who claimed to be the one responsible for all his bad luck.
He'd even thought