So now here I was…. currently being snuggled by a big imposing black bear like some plushie doll…. I swear this was a sight no one could possibly predict…

  I wish I could get out of this, but he was just too strong to loosen his grip on me…. My minions were too afraid to get near us but at the same time I could hear some of them snicker over my predicament. Some of which I can tell was the usual three stooges….

  “Pfft, I guess the chief has a new fan now~”

  “Yeah… I think we should let them work it out themselves~”

  “Good idea, I’m sure the chief doesn’t mind~”

  Laugh it up, I’m going to remember this when I finally get out of here you three, just you wait! For now, I needed to assess the situation and figure out my next move. I figure the best thing would be to see if I could talk to the adventurer.

  “Uhm…. Damian…. Can we talk? I mean what are you even doing here in the first place?”

  It seemed he didn’t hear me as he was too invested in snuggling with me for some reason. I couldn’t help but sigh over this embarrassment….

  Thankfully it didn’t take long for Mordred and the orcs to regain consciousness, getting themselves back up as they tried to process what happened. Mordred himself was shaking his head in frustration.

  “Rrgghhh damn! I am going to get that bear if...its…the last thing I do…. what is going on??”

  The sight of his boss being held like a plushie would definitely be jarring for anyone to process. I mean, I can barely believe it myself and having my loyal henchman see me like this was like a knife to the chest…

  As if it couldn’t get any worse V came by as well, wondering if everything is alright now that the noise calmed down. It was bad enough having Mordred see me like this, I didn’t want V to as well. I struggled, trying to get out of his grip but it was proving to be difficult, I swear I think it was actually getting stronger. It was too late anyway; V was already seeing me in this sorry state.

  “Mr. Vlad? What’s going on? Why is that guy hugging you like that??”

  I couldn’t bear to look at them in the eyes, I couldn’t even utter a single word to explain the situation, especially since I barely understood it myself. V just continued to curiously watch the event unfold before they surprisingly smiled and jumped for joy.

  “Is this a new friend?! Can I join in a hug too?!”

  It was then that Damian finally stopped snuggling against me and noticed V, he just stared at them with a bewildered look before it quickly changing into a happy smile while he offered a free arm.

  “Sure, if you want. The more the merrier. ~”

  V immediately took him up on his offer and jumped in his arms and happily joined in on the snuggling. He now had me and V on one arm each as he nuzzled both of us in each cheek, a look of euphoria was washing over his face.

  …. And this was supposed to be The Quiet Black Beast?!

  It didn’t seem like I was going to get out of this anytime soon, so I was stuck in this position for a while, I tried to instruct everyone on their tasks for now all while trying to ignore the snide looks they were all giving me.

  It took a few minutes before Damian finally managed to calm down. His expression started to return back to before as he let me go from his arms.

  I took the moment to catch my breath while V happily jumped off and turned to face Damian.

  “That was nice, thank you Mr. Bear!!”

  Damian could only blush from the compliment as he replied with the same familiar tone from before.

  “…you’re welcome.”

  The young goblin then went to check on the others, leaving me alone with Damian.

  It was… a little awkward to say the least. The Beastman managed to get enough sense to realize how unusual the way he acted was and seemed a bit embarrassed with himself.

  “…. Sorry…. I know that was a lot the way I behaved earlier….”

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  …. I could only sigh there was a lot to unpack, so I decided to get to the point and began to question him.

  “Why are you here exactly? How did you know it was me?”

  Damian replied with the same professional stoicism I’ve come to recognize. “…There was a quest asking for the investigation of a Minotaur sighting on this location.”

  He then turned to face me as he continued. “…. And I recognized who you were since you’re wearing the exact same outfit as yesterday.”

  …. Hearing this I could only facepalm myself, shaking my head from overlooking such a simple oversight. Well, what’s done is done, I’ll make sure to confront this issue later.

  I continued, going for the more personal question. “….so about earlier…. Was there a reason for that fixation you suddenly had towards me?”

  He stayed silent for a moment, probably wanting to be careful about how he responds until he finally managed to figure out a response. “…. You weren’t afraid of me…”

  I raised the equivalent of an eyebrow, my interest piqued from his statement. “Really? I didn’t really see anything to be afraid of about you.”

  There seemed to be a glint forming in his eyes from my answer. His body looked like he was ready to hug me again, so I thought of changing the subject.

  “A-anyway, since you’re here there was actually a proposition I had for you. What do you say in becoming my henchman?” I proposed.

  Yes, even after that recent ‘event’ I still desired to have Damian as mine. I was planning to get to know him and figure out how to recruit him but now, I can confidently say I got to know more than enough for a lifetime. Besides, now that he knows my secret I have no choice but to recruit him now.

  Damian was predictably surprised; it was definitely the most unusual offer someone would get. I fully expected him to reject it, and I was subtly inching my claw to my side, preparing for the worst.

  But that wasn’t the case, instead he started to ask me a question. “…Does that mean I get to hang out with you more often?”

  “I mean…yeah, I’ll be needing your help if I ever going to achieve world conquest after all. ~”

  For some reason, the black bear started to chuckle to himself. Was there something I said that was funny?

  He eventually started to answer me “…. ok I’ll gladly be your henchman under one condition.”

  Well, that went a lot better than I thought. I did have to wonder what his condition was, though I’m sure it wouldn’t be anything too bad. At least, that’s what I thought before he started to explain.

  “…. I get to cuddle with you as often as possible.” He stated, a hint of his earlier tone leaking through.

  That was…. A difficult condition to accept…. I shudder at the idea of him hugging me like a plushie all the time. Plus, there was the matter of my dignity I had to consider…. But I guess I don’t have a real reason to reject it.

  “Alright fine but not in public, I do have a reputation to keep upholding.” I said matter a fact. There was no way I was going to budge on this matter.

  No sooner had I agreed, I suddenly found myself grabbed by his arms once more. Suffocated by the full might of his bear hug.

  “DEAL!!”

  Well…. I guess this is my life now….

  And right on time the familiar screen appeared to notify me of the Beastman’s official recruitment.

  While I was stuck in my current position, I decided to take the opportunity to check out my new Henchman’s stats.

  Based on what I saw, I would say that he was comparably as strong as Mordred. Their fight from before proving that. Now there was the matter of deciding what to do next, with the guild putting in that quest I doubt Damian will be the only one investigating this area.

  As well I’ll need to figure out what I’ll have Damian do to help out on the base. Well, he is a veteran adventurer. Maybe he could use his expertise in helping with everyone’s training. I did need a professional trainer after all so this would be perfect.

  As I pondered all this, I suddenly felt my body squeeze a bit tighter. Seems he has a lot of energy to spend so I’ll just have to endure it for now. After today, I think we can agree we could all use a little break for now.

  Meanwhile not too far off from view, Mordred was hiding rather poorly, watching as the black bear continued to hug me. A look of jealousy can be seen from his face.