After leaving Joan to Milarel, Aiden walked out to handle other matters. Namely, to handle the new ’tenants’.

Joan had already broken the men on her side. Even if Aiden threw them some scraps, they would readily join his side.

As for the women she raised so painstakingly, they knew which side to choose after the little performance he put on for them in the basement.

Then came the few people Joan had left in her camp. He had already sent people to bring them back under the guise of celebrating Joan’s victory.

Now that he had captured most of her force, they would act to let those left behind enter the apartment. Once they did that, not even a god could make them leave his influence.

How many residents do we have now?

[Taking everyone into consideration, approximately three hundred, Host.]

"Nice. We’re getting closer to the threshold—"

"Aiden, there’s someone I would like you to meet," Karina interrupted him.

Next to her, a frail-looking woman was standing, wearing cracked spectacles. She had tied her long hair in two ponytails and was hiding behind Karina.

"Don’t be scared of him," Karina chuckled, pulling the girl forward. "He looks like a demon, but is a softie once you get to know him."

[Eh? Softie? Host!?]

Shut it.

[...]

Aiden put on his most fawning smile and extended his hand towards the young lady.

"Hello, I’m Aiden. The humble landlord of this decent establishment."

[Pfft—!]

The system couldn’t hold it back anymore. If Aiden were considered humble, then the word tyrant would lose all its meaning.

Even Karina was a bit surprised by his introduction, and suddenly her friendliness towards the girl behind her turned into hostility. The young woman had suddenly become a competitor for her.

Meanwhile, the confused girl’s head kept darting between Karina and Aiden. Even she wondered why their moods flipped like a switch.

Suddenly, the words Old Joe had told the girl echoed in her mind.

"The one called Aiden. You mustn’t offend him at any cost. He’s the one with all the authority there!"

Between the fearsome Karina and someone even Old Joe was afraid of, making the choice wasn’t difficult.

The girl immediately placed her hand into Aiden’s.

"I’m Elaine... I was an architecture student before the apocalypse gave us students a permanent vacation..."

"So, you’ve got jokes as well," Aiden smiled and shook her hand. "It’s a pleasure to have you with us."

"N-No! The pleasure is all mine!" Elaine quickly shook her head. "Besides, camp leader Karina asked for my help with something... so I’d be glad to be of service."

As their hands pulled away, Aiden immediately wrapped his around Karina’s slender waist. Before she knew it, his lips were on hers.

"Seriously? Getting jealous of a young girl now?" he whispered into her ears as his hand drifted to her plump butt. "Perhaps the last time didn’t give you enough security—"

"No, it did!" Karina yelped, jumping back. "I mean... I wouldn’t mind if you wanted more, just... that you should take care of your body more... and think of the... children."

Wait, how does she... System!?

[Hehe... Host, I think I might have sent a notification to your partners about your new blessing by mistake...]

As much as Aiden wanted to drag the system into reality while twisting her ears, he didn’t. After all, he was planning on telling them about it later. Especially Carmila.

It seems I would need to find a body for you ASAP.

[Thank you, Host! I knew you wouldn’t mind me telling—]

Only when you have a body will I be able to smash you to death.

[...what kind of smashing are we talking about?]

What?

[What? I didn’t say anything. It must have been the wind, Host.]

The wind ain’t that strong, you witch.

"Aiden, is everything okay? You seem kind of lost..." Karina asked, waving a hand at his face.

"Ahem, nothing," he cleared his throat, turning towards Elaine. "Come on, I’ll show you the mess I have made of this building. Then you could help me redesign it."

Elaine was a bit surprised. She thought she would have to design a new building, not help modify one. Besides, was something like that even possible?

Karina made it seem like Aiden had godly abilities, but even so, remodeling a place where people were already living was a bit much... right?

"Sure..."

Elaine followed Aiden around for a tour. However, the more he showed her, the more shocked she became. It was like an entire city was living inside one building, and she didn’t mean it in terms of the population.

Even the survivor camp, with a much larger area, wasn’t as developed as this single building. Even then, it was nothing compared to Aiden’s future plans of having a swimming pool, a jacuzzi, private saunas, and whatnot.

Not to mention, he said he wanted her to create a layout of an entire building, which he would use to erect even more buildings later on.

If she hadn’t already seen what Aiden had created, Elaine would have thought he had no screws at all.

While people outside struggled to get water, Aiden was planning to make swimming pools!?

Outside, people survived on anything they could get their hands on, and yet inside, people were enjoying meat stew and all sorts of delicacies!?

"No wonder leader Karina left the camp," Elaine muttered under her breath, yet Aiden heard it all.

"You could stay here too," Aiden smiled wanly, looking every bit like a hero wronged by fate and society. "If it wasn’t for that Old Joe’s nature, I would have asked the entire camp to join. But... oh well, let’s talk about you first. Would you like to join us here?"

"Sir... I don’t think I’m qualified—"

"Nonsense," Aiden waved his hand, and a tenancy agreement appeared in front of Elaine. "Anyone I send this contract to is more than eligible to live here."

He continued, "You can go through the agreement and tell me if there’s anything you dislike. If not, just sign it and find Karina. She’ll set you up with a unit of your own."