Apocalypse Landlord: My Tenants Are All Beautiful Heroines.-Chapter 45: Benevolent Tyrant

"A vending machine? I mean, yeah, we have a few of them rusting around at the camp," Karina said. "But why do you need one?"

"I don’t, James does," Aiden replied, running a hand through his hair. "He has some talent related to creating items, but it’s not enough. I want him to get better at it, and for that, we need some vending machines."

Karina didn’t get it. Aiden had a barrier to protect them and enough weapons as well. There wasn’t any need to do all this, and yet he kept moving forward.

If she had evolved like Aiden, she would spend all her time holed up in a room enjoying life.

To be frank, the previous owner of the body had done the same thing and ended up dead either way. Then again, that guy didn’t have a proper system to help him out like the demon lord Aiden did.

"So yeah, could you bring one back?" Aiden mumbled. "The sooner James masters the workshop skills, the sooner we can get rid of your curse."

Karina was taken by surprise. How did she forget how selfless Aiden was? He wanted to get stronger for her sake and nothing else.

Last night must have made him worry about me...

[Tenant: Karina Shaw’s infatuation rose to 3%]

Without another word, she threw her arms around Aiden, lifting him off the ground.

"I love you so much!" she exclaimed, taking a whiff of his neck. "And this smell too~"

"Alright, woman. Let’s not get too excited here. Don’t forget what happened last night."

As soon as he said that, it was like a switch had been flipped in her head. Just because they had sex didn’t mean Karina’s heat died down.

Werewolves of the Otherworld would stay in heat for up to two weeks. The only difference was that once they found a fated mate, they would only have intimacy with them.

If anyone else tried to pull a trick, they would go berserk, much like the first time Karina transformed.

Not wanting to get triggered again, Karina hastily dropped him and jumped back. Some distance between the two was necessary, or they wouldn’t get anything done.

Aiden continued speaking once things calmed down.

"Ahem, also, while you’re there, bring some people from the slums over."

For a moment, Karina was confused about how he knew about the slums, only to remember he could see things that his tenants did.

"You must have seen it when James was around," she nodded. "But why would you want them here? They are dirty, to say the least. Probably more so than Amaela."

A frown appeared on his face as soon as he heard Amaela’s name. That and also that dirty slum. It wasn’t that he wanted them there, but that he had to get them over to upgrade his class.

Besides, he needed people for labor. Karina and the wolves were an elite combat team, and having them run errands was a waste of their potential.

Moreover, though they killed the ghouls and Aiden exchanged them for utility resources, every floor apart from the 15th and 14th was dirty as hell.

Someone had to clean them because Aiden couldn’t tolerate knowing such a dirty place existed in the same building as him.

It was fine before because he hadn’t been there using [Supervision]. But now that he had seen it, it had to be cleaned. Who was better for the job than a bunch of slum-dwellers who would do anything for food and shelter?

If they were going to be slaves, they’d be better off being his slaves. But he couldn’t tell that to Karina, could he?

"Yeah, I saw the terrible condition they lived in," he said, putting on a sympathetic tone. "I was planning on bringing them over sooner or later. Now that the building is relatively safe, they can move in."

Terrible condition.

That’s where Karina was stuck. She had known they lived in desperation, but she didn’t have a choice in the matter.

While she was the leader, most policies of the survivor camp were voted on by the four ’heads’.

She was one, the other was Old Joe, the financial district representative. Then came Carmila, the entertainment district leader, and finally Simeon, the guy responsible for housing.

As the leader of the wolves, Karina was too focused on keeping the monsters away that she rarely paid attention to the slums.

It wasn’t until a young girl ran up to her, begging her to save her father, that Karina realized what she had been ignoring. From that day on, she made it a rule that everyone in the slums could get medicine for little to no cost.

The rest were displeased, but she drew a hard line there, and they had to surrender.

However, that was the only time the other heads backed down, saying she didn’t understand the inner workings of the camp and that she should leave it to them and focus on killing monsters.

"Is something wrong?" Aiden asked, noticing Karina’s silence.

"It’s... nothing," she replied, shaking her head. "I was just thinking how an outsider wanted to help my people more than I did. You’re a kind man, Aiden. I’m glad I chose to be by your side."

Oh, you sweet summer child.

[Tenant: Karina Shaw’s infatuation rose to 6%]

"However, I’ll only bring them here if you don’t coddle them."

"Coddle them?"

"Yes. You wouldn’t be giving away food for free. If they want to live here, they can work and earn the right to a dwelling and nutrition."

Aiden smiled and nodded. Why would he object when it was similar to what he had in mind? Only instead of delivering food and items to them, he would set up vending machines on each floor. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

The money they earned could be used for the machines. That way, not only would their quality of life improve, but Aiden would also gain their respect, as he wouldn’t take them as charity cases but as contributing tenants.

Besides, he was technically using them for the same purpose as they were already being used. Technically, they would still act as a buffer between the infiltrators and the core area of the building.

The more loyal they become to me, the more fiercely they’ll fight whoever I target. Ah, it reminds me of how I made those demons and monsters fight for me.

"I’ll take the wolves and depart today," Karina whispered, stepping closer to Aiden. "I’ll... try to get back as soon as possible."

"Take all the time you need," Aiden replied, caressing her cheek. "Just leave Marcus behind. It would be good to have someone capable of fighting, just in case."

"Ah, yes, someone should stay back... if only I didn’t have to confront Joe. Fine, I’ll tell Marcus to stay back."

"Good girl."

"I told you not to..." Karina’s words melted away under Aiden’s headpats. "Ugh! Fine, you can call me that from now on... please."