The Trail of Secrets & Blood 3

Several days had passed since the battle’s ending at Lugha jungle and everyone had returned to Zararias, the capital of the Ocoris republic, and was resting while waiting for Bahia’s next orders to come forward.

Bahia had decided to give them a chance to bond more together by fighting alongside each other, as well as giving them an extra vacation after the significant fight was over.

He believed now was the appropriate time to do that since no major incident was occurring in Ocoris, nor in any other country to his knowledge, so he thought he should grab the opportunity to strengthen his trusted group’s relationships.

The fact was that he knew they were getting along well together, but he wanted to instill a comrade-like feeling rather than a “partners on the same job” one.

The conglomerate he had taken after his father Bahia Hector passed away, was built and continuously grew in order to do a specific job; the kill-to-earn transactions that Morphic conglomerate was so famous about.

So, he knew that despite that his team was strong and didn’t have any problems whatsoever with each other, the culture of the business he inherited and strengthened throughout the years didn’t let them see each other as something more than partners or colleagues.

Hence, it occurred to him that if his most trusted people bonded with each other more, it could both enhance their capabilities and smoothen up the whole process of Morphic’s essential task and therefore whole existence.

“What is going to be a good place for that matter though? I thought it would be a good idea to give them some time to rest before getting the vacation, but it actually served me as well for me to finalize the destination for that.”, Bahia murmured sitting on his office chair alone.

“I need to find something that can excite them so that thrill can impact their relationship more positively…maybe.”

*Knock Knock*

Bahia heard a soft bang coming from the outer side of his office door and turned his chair to face the sound’s direction.

“Bahia”, Logan said in a light tone while opening the door just a tiny notch, “Everyone has gathered here to receive the news about the vacation you had planned for us.”

Bahia hearing Logan’s voice stood up and went near the door to face Logan directly with a confident tone.

“Logan, I hope you all got the rest you needed. Please summon them to my office, I’ve got all the information you need.”

“Affirmative”, said Logan disappearing in a blink of an eye to the structure’s entrance.

After a brief period, 5 figures could be seen ascending the stairs together while Bahia was sitting at the very top where the stairs lead, gazing at them.

“Logan, Bruni, Reio, Aimil, and Maeve, thank you for your hard work and for coming here. It’s time for all of you to receive a gift for your continuous support and good work.”, he said as they all drew closer to him.

“This doesn’t seem like you, though.”, Maeve said with a curious note on her words and continued with an apologetic kind of speech as she felt Aimil leering at her.

“Not in a bad way, of course, I just mean that this is the first time we hear about something as frivolous as an exclusive trip for the Evanescent Trail. Not that I’ll say no to it.🎶”

Bruni then barged in with a loud voice.

“Haha! Doesn’t matter the reason, the boss wants us to have fun and so we will!”.

Reio quietly umphed after Bruni’s words and turned his head in a different direction than Bahia’s place, seemingly uninterested in the conversation that was going to take place.

“So, since we are all here now.”, Logan started speaking while taking a step forward to get closer to Bahia, “What is exactly that we are going to do?”

Bahia took a deep breath before uttering flatly.

“You are going on a mountain hike.”

Everyone slightly raised their eyebrows with an expression filled with curiosity after hearing Bahia’s words.

“Why is that so, Mr. Salva?”, Aimil said tilting her head sideways.

“Wait, more importantly,” Maeve abruptly spoke before Aimil got her answer, “why do you keep using a tone as if you won’t come with us?”

Bruni was astonished at Maeve’s words and immediately followed up.

“Yeah, Yeah! Maeve is right! Of course, it’s very nice that we will get to go for a little trip, but what about you boss? I believe you deserve a day off or two.”

Bahia, at first, wasn’t sure how to answer both of their remarks but after some seconds passed he began talking.

“This vacation is not about me. It’s about all of you 5 enjoying it together. Besides, who would run the firm if something occurred that needed our attention?”

“That’s right you all.”, Logan took the liberty to support Bahia’s comment, “We can’t just all leave everything here. Even though, I do agree about you taking a vacation Bahia.”

Reio, after Logan finished his sentence, finally broke his silence and came forward seemingly to get seen by everyone.

“Then, why don’t we do this? We go for our 3 days vacation, and when we return we will run any operations all us 5, while Bahia will take his wife and go for a 3 days trip himself.”

“It’s a vacation exchange!”, Maeve enthusiastically shouted.

“I believe that is fair for everyone.”, Bruni followed up in a serious tone with his big arms crossed.

“Even though it might have been better for all of us to go together…However, I understand and support this idea too.”, Aimil said in a kind and soft voice.

Finally, Logan stepped in to give his say about the matter as well.

“That is a great idea Reio. As always, you’ve got the creative brain in the team.”

Reio turned his head again to face the nothingness instead of everyone’s bright faces. Bahia, at that sight, got close to Reio and extended his arm with an open hand, seemingly trying to make a pact.

“It’s a deal then, you all. Go ahead and enjoy your little trip since you so much deserve it. And when you return from that, I will take time off and let you run everything while I am not here. I trust you will be able to pull it off just well.”

Reio then did the same for Bahia and they interlocked their arms and closed the transaction between them.

“Alright! I am getting excited now! Where should we head exactly Bahia?”, Bruni said in a voice full of spirit.

“About that…I’ve had an old-time friend that owns an inn near the Galmis region. So, tell him when you get there that you will need a room, courtesy of ol’ Salva. After you settle in, you can take a side road that leads to the mountainous area of Galmis.”

“Wuuuuu sounds great! Can’t wait for the hike now🎶”, Maeve said while clapping fastly her hands in an exuberant manner.

“Then don’t! Pack up your things and go ahead!”

Everyone bowed in both respect and thankfulness to Bahia and started their descent to grab their belongings, waving at Bahia back on their way down.

“This went even better than I thought…”, Bahia murmured to himself, “They will even get the chance to try and run the Morphic operations together for a small amount of time.”

Bahia thought that this will further empower their relationship, as well as allow him to see who was a good fit for Morphic if he decided to step down after some years passed.

“And I will even get a time off in exchange.”, he lastly let out after turning his back to the stairs he was previously facing, starting to walk slowly toward his office with a smile on his face.

This is a side story featuring the main cast from my work-in-progress novel, "In The Ashes of Forgiveness", originally published on Medium.

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