Apocalypse Landlord: My Tenants Are All Beautiful Heroines.-Chapter 19: Brave New World

Old Joe was skeptical, but there was no stopping Karina. She entered the bath, only to yelp in surprise.

"Soap! Conditioners! Shampoo! Scrub! THIS IS HEAVEN!"

Her voice was so loud that even the soldiers outside must have heard her. Old Joe’s face immediately turned red from shame.

This girl! You’re a leader here to make a trade agreement! Can’t you think about your status and reputation for once!?

Meanwhile, Aiden couldn’t care less about her. He wouldn’t have told her to use the shower if he hadn’t already placed the ’necessary’ items there.

I must thank Alisha for the idea.

Despite his decades of debauchery in the Otherworld, Aiden remained oblivious to the ways of coaxing a woman.

After all, in the Otherworld, only strength mattered. As long as he showed off a bit, monsters and demonesses would fall for him within seconds.

It was easier with Alisha because of the circumstances around her. Aiden had no idea what Karina would be like under that tough bitch exterior. Thankfully, Alisha was there to help him.

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

Speak of the devil.

Aiden smirked and waved Alisha in. Unlike yesterday, she wasn’t wearing the denim shorts, but was dressed modestly and even wore an apron on top.

"Oh, we have guests so early in the morning?" She asked, giving a quick peck to Aiden.

"Yes, they’re here for business," Aiden replied. "Would you mind preparing some food for them?"

"Leave it to me."

Alisha went back to her dutiful wife role and began cooking up something from the military ration pack. Obviously, they had already discussed it.

Karina cared about cleanliness, but not Joe. If Aiden wanted them under his thumb, he had to do something to catch Old Joe’s attention, too.

James had helped him with that. While enjoying the company of the brothel whores, he asked them about Old Joe’s preference.

Surprisingly, he wasn’t interested in women, but in three things: Food, liquor, and money.

Aiden had money, but not the kind Old Joe liked. He didn’t have any liquor either. This left him with food. Thankfully, Alisha had a knack for cooking. She could turn a simple MRE into a gourmet meal.

Karina walked out of the shower feeling refreshed, only to see a table full of dishes waiting for her.

Chicken stew, baked tortillas, mashed potatoes, crackers with liquid cheese and even brownies for dessert. And these weren’t even half the contents of a single MRE pack.

While all of those things could be prepared by just using the flameless ration heater that came with each MRE pack, they did not taste great.

It wasn’t until Alisha began cooking them did they turned into delicious meals. It made Aiden wonder if she was truly talentless or an evolver with expertise in cooking.

Regardless of the case, Aiden had achieved what he wanted to.

Hook, line, and sinker.

Neither Karina nor Old Joe could take their eyes off the table. Even as the richest people in the camp, they couldn’t afford to get chicken stew.

Their protein intake depended on monster hunts. Even then, it had to be cooked to the point of burning to get rid of the contamination germs on them.

Yet... someone was not only having a stew, but a three-course meal!?

Yes. Get addicted to this food. Then I can start abusing your little camp for my own benefit.

Aiden’s plan was simple. Get the entire camp addicted to the MREs only he could ’produce’. Once that happened, they wouldn’t dare go against him or he would cut off their supply of gourmet food.

It’s a shame I don’t have Witch of the Night, Nerissa, by my side. Her drugs would have gotten them hooked in seconds.

After placing the dishes, Alisha sat by Aiden’s side, who quickly wiped the sweat off her forehead.

[Tenant: Alisha Irwin’s desire rose to 41%]

Just because he had to deal with Karina and Joe didn’t mean he wouldn’t seize an opportunity to raise Alisha’s desire.

"I apologize for presenting such lackluster food before you," Alisha mumbled, appearing a bit sad. "I tried my best to make it presentable."

"Notf at all!" Karina said, stuffing her mouth with a tortilla dipped in chicken stew. "It is deficious!"

Unlike Karina, who was swallowing the food like a black hole, Old Joe kept staring at the cheese cracker in his hand.

"Is something... the matter?" Alisha asked.

"N-Not at all!" Old Joe stammerer, wiping his tears away. "I was just thinking what I would do to have a goddess like you by my side."

Just as he said those words, a heavy silence fell over the table. Even Karina had stopped wolfing her food down, looking at Joe like he was an idiot.

"Aiden, I assure you, Uncle Joe didn’t mean it in that way, right, Uncle?" Karina gulped the food in her mouth in one go, trying to keep the situation from getting worse.

Her beastly senses were screaming like never before. She hadn’t felt like this even when she fought against the local Orc Lord, yet the aura around Aiden was telling her to escape, even if it meant jumping out of the window.

However, the strange atmosphere disappeared just as suddenly as it had appeared.

"It’s fine. I can’t blame him," Aiden smiled. "After all, Alisha is a woman worth admiring, much like yourself, Miss Karina."

"Wh-What kind of nonsense are you saying all of a sudden!?" Karina stammered, wanting to rebuke Aiden, though the heat rising to her cheeks betrayed her.

Across the table, Old Joe glared at Aiden. He had indeed tried poaching the woman, but he didn’t think Aiden would be bold enough to turn it on him and hit on Karina.

He wanted to shut the conversation down right there, but before he could, Karina kept blabbering on.

"Y-You shouldn’t joke like that with people you just met," she said, drinking an entire jar of water to calm her nerves, but the redness on her ears didn’t lessen a bit.

Karina had sensed a lot of emotions with her beastly senses. Danger, bloodlust, fear, but she hadn’t quite felt like whatever it was that was making her stomach flutter weirdly.

"I’m just stating a fact," Aiden shrugged as he went back to devouring his delicious brownie. "Seeing just capable individuals thriving in this ruined world fills me with hope for the future. That’s why I hope we can collaborate to make this world a better place once again."

"..."

Everyone at the table was stunned into silence. None of them were hopeful or foolish enough to believe they could turn the apocalypse around.

Such notions were childish, but they didn’t seem like it when Aiden was the one saying so. He truly believed he could make it possible.

"You might have wondered why I proposed a deal," he mumbled. "If I wanted, I could have lived a quiet life without contacting anyone outside. But I want everyone to live well."

Suddenly, his hands wrapped around Karina’s as he stared into her crimson eyes.

"I beg you! Only you can help me make a brave new world!"

[Stranger: Karina Shaw’s respect rose to 21%]

[Stranger: Karina Shaw’s affection rose to 9%]

...system, what’s going on?