Criminal X : Epitome Of Evil

The four girls squinted their eyes, staring at each other, sparks flying off.

Pablo kept a close eye on them and all four of them opened their mouths at once.

But—

"Alright. No need to fight." Pablo spoke just in time.

The girls shut their mouths.

Pablo sighed. "There is no competition between you all. I care about all of you equally. And don't harbor any ill intentions until you girls reach eighteen. Got it?"

All four girls nodded and Pablo flashed them a smile.

"Alright, you all can move back now. I have some other work to do, you know."

Pablo lifted his hand from the back of the slaves and one by one, with a laugh, slaves moved back.

In a minute, the slaves were standing away from Pablo but the man still wasn't free.

One slave remained hugging him.

"You can go too, Young. The hugging is over." Pablo said.

The twelve year old boy smiled, staring at Pablo.

He was shorter than Pablo and he was shorter than all the slaves.

His chubby face and nearly kempt brown hairs gave him a look of an innocent kid and Pablo believed that the boy was really innocent. Otherwise, he should have known that if Pablo says to move back, you move back. Not smile at him.

"What is it?" Pablo asked, keeping his cool.

"If we face danger, you will come to save us, right?" Young asked, hope in his eyes.

He gawked at Pablo like he was his big brother or father. Pablo couldn't take his eyes away from the young slave.

In the end, Pablo had no choice but to answer.

"Yes. None of you will die against my wishes."

He said it and with a beaming face, Young finally let go of Pablo.

Cupid, however, caught something within Pablo's words.

"None of them will die against your wishes? What kind of promise is that?" She asked.

Pablo shook his head. 'Leave it. You won't get it.'

Cupid shrugged and let it go. If Pablo said it then she won't get an answer.

The slaves remained on the stage, looking at Pablo.

"Like I said, you all can go now. Go to your rooms or do whatever the hell you want. And girls, don't fight. Be nice to each other. All four of you are pretty in your own way. Okay?"

"Okay." The girls nodded and held each other's hands.

Satisfied with that, Pablo gestured towards the exit of the ground and one by one, all the slaves began descending from the stage.

Boys were the first one to do that as they bowed at Pablo before leaving.

The girls followed and started leaving with a bow as well.

Pablo showed each of them his smile and as the last slave left the ground, he heaved a sigh of relief.

THUP!

He slumped on the stage.

'Smiling is so tiring. How can people do this all the time?'

He shook his head and caught his breath.

"So you weren't smiling genuinely?" Cupid asked.

Pablo rolled his eyes. "Not now, Angel."

"Come on. Just say yes or no."

Pablo let out an exaggerated sigh, and answered:

"Nes."

"What is that?"

"No and Yes."

"That doesn't even a word."

"Now it is."

"You are impossible."

Pablo chuckled. "My smile was genuine sometimes and sometimes it was fake. The thing is, I am incapable of smiling. So if you see me smiling, know that I am trying my best."

Cupid nodded and went silent.

Pablo stayed on the stage for a few more minutes before standing up.

He patted his uniform and like everyone else, he also walked towards the exit and left the ground.

He reached his room at the candidates area and slumped on the bed.

'I have to do something about Sera too. She will definitely try to come with me to Hollow. I don't know if I should take her with me or not.'

"I think you should take her with you." Cupid suggested.

Pablo nodded. 'Alright. I am not taking her with me then.'

"What? How much do you hate me for deciding the opposite of my suggestion?"

'If someone as stupid as you said it, then I definitely shouldn't take her with me.'

"Wha—"

'Shut up. Let me think. You are a hundred years too early to suggest anything to me.'

Cupid clenched her fists and that was all she could do.

She didn't say anything and let Pablo stay in his silence.

Pablo raced his mind for the possibilities and outcomes if he took Sera with him to Hollow.

He was sure he shouldn't take Sera with him because he was afraid she would pose problems for him because of her unstable hormones.

But now that he thought about it, Sera had good luck, he could copy her Ego and she also had the strongest angel with him. If Pablo wanted, he could make Andrezj do his bidding.

And even if Sera got in some problem in Hollow, the very same Angel would do anything to save her.

Pablo nodded to himself as he spent the whole remaining day thinking all this. And he also used his Receiver to make a call to Draxus.

The night arrived and with the arrival of night, Pablo's door received repeated knocks.

But Pablo remained on his bed and near his door, papers were pouring in.

One knock would happen on his door and then one paper would slide inside his room through the gap under the door.

Pablo kept counting the number of knocks and when the knock reached hundred, he finally got up and assembled all the papers lying around the floor of his room.

He stacked them neatly, tapping their bottom on the small table beside his bed and after making the stack neat and systematic, he laid on the bed and began reading them.

They were the same papers he had told the soldiers to prepare.

It contained all the details of their Egoes and Pablo had a hundred of them in total.

The call he made was to Draxus saying that he should inform all the soldiers to knock on Pablo's door once and slide their paper inside the room.

The soldiers did exactly that and Pablo, like the strategist he was…

Would read each page and prepare to bestow carnage to the Hollow Kingdom.