Criminal X : Epitome Of Evil

Pablo steadied his breath.

He calmed himself down, forgot the anger towards Hena and made his voice friendly.

And most importantly…

"Look here, Young."

He addressed the slaves with their names.

Young, the twelve years old boy, raised his head and saw Pablo.

And he instantly calmed down because Pablo had a warm smile and was sitting on the stage cross-legged.

After Young, Pablo focused on the next.

"You too, Pimple. Bush and Brownie. Look here."

The other three boys raised their heads too and when they saw Pablo, they also eased up.

Then—

"Ebony, Snow, Lashes and Melon. What are you all waiting for? Am I that ugly that you girls won't even look at me."

Pablo chuckled and hearing his laugh, the four fifteen year old girls jolted their heads up.

They also eased up as Pablo was laughing and had no stress on his face.

Like that, the eight slaves let go of their fears to some extent and their shoulders and hands loosened up.

Pablo didn't stop.

"Come on, sit down. Let's have a chat. This is going to be fun. Believe me. You all will get to be heroes."

Young's eyes lit up. "Heroes? Like the one we hear in stories? Like you?"

'Like me? No wonder he is a kid.'

Pablo smiled. "Yes. Heroes. You all will help me in this mission and the king might award you if you did good work. So yes. You can be a hero, Young."

Young's eyes sparkled brighter than the stars.

"Really?"

He sat down crossed legged too.

Pablo nodded, showing the same enthusiasm as Young. "Yes. Really."

"Yes!" Young was in.

The other slaves had smiles on their faces as they watched Young and Pablo gestured to them to sit down too.

They obliged and now all the eight slaves were sitting on the stage in front of Pablo.

They all had smiles on their faces and the fear from before was nowhere to be seen now. They weren't afraid at all.

Pablo successfully did what he wanted and now he moved on to the main thing.

"Alright. Let's hear what I have in mind for all of you."

The slaves nodded.

Young leaned forward and Pablo started.

"My soldiers, me and you eight will be in the same carriage, I don't know if there will be more people in the carriage yet but if there are more people then you eight and those more people would be the only ones who'll be unconscious."

The slaves frowned. But Pablo spoke first.

"Before you ask why that is? I will tell you myself." Pablo paused, then added: "If the Cannibals checked all the carriages carefully then they should not be suspicious. You all will be near the entrance of the carriage and when they see that you eight are unconscious they would not bother to check the other people like me and my soldiers because they would think everyone is unconscious and then we would be able to enter the Hollow with no big problem."

Young's eyes sparkled. He liked the sound of it. He would play a crucial part. He was so ready for it.

But Young was the youngest and the slaves older than him surely had something to say.

Bush raised his hand. "I have a question, sir."

'What makes them think they can ask questions here?' Pablo would have straightened the slave right there and then.

But he smiled. "Sure. Ask away, Bush."

Bush adjusted his hairs and asked, "What if the Cannibals started unloading us from the carriage right there and then and took us somewhere else, like in their kitchen? You and your soldiers would be awake so you can leave the carriage secretly but what about us? We'll be unconscious and vulnerable."

As Bush said that, Young's eyes diminished a little and all the other slaves also tensed up.

Pablo stared at Bush and… smiled.

'This guy is hiding a sharp brain under all that hair.'

But no brain would come close to Pablo's. And even if it happened, then Pablo would compensate it with doing something that defines why he was the worst criminal.

Nevertheless, he kept his smile and answered Bush.

"You thought well, young man, but you forgot one thing."

Bush knitted his brows.

Pablo carried on.

"Even if I leave the carriage, I would still be around. And as long as I am around, you people won't die against my wishes. And that's my word as your master."

Pablo gave them his word and that's what the slaves needed.

They knew Pablo enough by now and if he said something, he would do it.

Young's sparkling eyes returned and all the other slaves lost their worries as well.

Pablo kept his smile.

"Alright. That's all I needed to say. You guys don't have any Egoes so you don't need to give me any details and can sleep well today. We will meet again after three days. You all can go and enjoy in your own rooms. I will call you when I want to. Alright?"

"Yes!" Young shouted and stood up.

Pimples, Bush and Brownie slowly stood up as well.

The girls—Snow, Ebony, Melon and Lashes, they all had smiles on their faces as just like the boys, they stood up too.

In the end, Pablo stood up.

The slaves remained in front of him and they were just about to take their leave when Pablo did something.

Their eyes and mouth opened wide but Pablo kept his warm smile.

"Are you…" Pimple asked, but couldn't find the courage to finish his sentence.

Pablo chuckled.

"What? You guys don't know what a group hug is?"

Yes.

Pablo had his arms wide spread and just like the slaves, Cupid had her mouth agape too.

This wasn't the Pablo she knew. Group hug? The one who says fuck off in return of good morning was asking for a group hug? What the hell was this character development?

The slaves looked at each other, not sure what they should do.

Pablo shook his head and looked at Young.

"Young, these guys don't want it. Let us do it and get over this."

"Yes!"

Young, the simple minded boy he was, dashed at Pablo and wrapped his arms around him.

Pablo and Young shared a laugh and their laugh broke the chains of the other slaves for good.

Therefore, all seven remaining slaves dashed forward as well and grasped around Pablo.

Pablo was pushed a few steps back with the sudden hug but under the laughs, the discomfort died as all of them shared a warm hug.

Everything was good.

Everything was warm.

Everything was wholesome.

Everything was…

Pablo's eyes found a slight glint for a second as everything was…

According to Pablo.