Apocalypse Landlord: My Tenants Are All Beautiful Heroines.-Chapter 37: Operation Clean House

A few minutes ago...

"Use the elevator to get to the fifth floor," Aiden said, giving the wolves some last-minute instructions. "Only after the goblins are dead, pry open the makeshift barrier with the crowbar. Understood?"

"Stop fretting over little details," Karina replied, rolling her eyes. "We got it, don’t we boys?"

"Of course we do!"

Aiden nodded, but his attention was fixed on Karina. She was back to being her boastful self. The girl Aiden had left in the meeting room was nowhere to be seen.

Well, it’s good. She can fluster in her personal time. Right now, I need her to be the leader she had been for a year.

After a final check on Karina’s insistence, the group loaded themselves into the elevator, ready to depart. As the doors were closing, Aiden saw Karina wave at him before hurriedly looking away.

James saw it and nudged Aiden with his elbow.

"Boss, I didn’t know you two were, mm-hmm!" he said, raising his eyebrows in quick succession.

It’s not just her, James.

As much as he wanted to say that, he just looked at the elbow and then back at James. Aiden’s stern gaze made the poor guy drop all closeness he might have thought they shared.

"Before I forget it," Aiden said, tossing a combat gauntlet to James. "Try imparting a special effect on this from the workshop."

James dropped the gauntlet because it was abnormally heavy, then foolishly tried catching it with his leg...

"OUCH!"

Aiden sighed in frustration, running his hand through his hair.

Watching him leave, James forgot all about his pain and rushed to him, jumping on one leg.

"B-Boss! I don’t know h-how to—" he stammered.

"You have a workshop. I’m sure you’ll figure something out," Aiden cut him off, patted his shoulder before heading inside his apartment.

James stood there on one leg, scratching his head.

"...there must be a m-manual for it, right?"

***

Unlike James, who shivered just at the thought of leaving, Karina and her group were animatedly chatting like it was just another day at work.

For people who had started hunting ogres, goblins didn’t scare them much. But they did not get complacent. After all, goblins always fought with numbers, and narrow places were their favorite places to hunt.

"Eyes up!" Karina alerted the rest, fixing her gauntlet as the elevator reached the fifth floor.

The rest of them also pulled out combat gauntlets that Aiden had given them as a mission acceptance reward. At first, the gauntlet felt heavy, but when they equipped it, the weight seemed to disappear.

"I would have preferred a club, but using an Evo-Gear can’t hurt, right?" Marcus’s words couldn’t hide the glee in his eyes.

Damian grunted in response, planning to use both his knives and the gauntlet.

However, the happiest person there was Glenn. Since his days on the force, he had only been using shields. At least now he had a weapon to fight back with.

"It’s a shame the rest of us aren’t here," Glenn shrugged. "Nicole would have given her arm away just to try an Evo-Gear."

"Focus, you bumbling buffoons," Karina snapped. "If you want to thank Aiden, then rid this place of goblins first."

The guys immediately snapped to attention. Simultaneously, seeing their leader think highly of Aiden, the group’s loyalty towards him also increased.

"Keep your guns aside," Karina instructed, eyeing the gauntlets on their hands. "It’s better to get acquainted with the gauntlets first."

Aiden had told her they weren’t cursed, and from appearance, they also looked different. Even so, Karina did not want to take any chances.

Hence, she was keeping an eye on them. The moment they show any signs of being cursed, she’d knock them out.

The rest of the crew knew what was going on in her head, but they weren’t worried. After all, Aiden wouldn’t harm them. Not unless they provoke him.

The doors opened, and the four of them stepped into the dark corridor.

"Ugh... this stench," Marcus frowned, covering his nose.

The others, except Karina’s, did the same. Unlike the floors above, the place was filled with the smell of lingering death. But not the quick kind. It was a slow and decaying death.

"Lights..." Damian mumbled.

However, before they could even switch on their torches, Karina’s arm shot out into the dark. A painful squeal followed as she snapped the creature’s neck.

"Stay alert," Karina whispered, glaring at the rest. "They are everywhere."

Marcus pointed the torch towards her and noticed a gaunt figure dangling lifelessly in her hand. It was thanks to Karina’s beastly senses that she noticed the goblin before it could harm anyone.

"These... don’t look like goblins," Glenn commented.

Unlike the goblins they had faced, the corpse did not have green skin, but a pale-bluish shade. Not to mention it was exceptionally gaunt, like someone had sucked its blood dry.

Damian also hit the torch, pointing it in the opposite direction. A dozen or so goblins were there. Just as Aiden said, the moment the torchlight hit them, they began screaming in pain and running away.

Unfortunately, there were only so many places they could run to. Having no way out, they lunged at the lights in desperation.

Glenn didn’t think twice and threw a punch at the closest goblin. The creature had gotten so slow that it couldn’t even react in time before its head was sent flying away.

"...what the hell?" Glenn mumbled as the goblin’s headless corpse fell to the ground.

He knew his strength. Casually sending heads flying was Karina’s style, not his. It had to be the gauntlet’s doing. The men exchanged a glance before running towards the left corridor.

"The first to send five heads flying will get all the desserts from tonight’s food packs!" Marcus yelled.

"Nice. Just three more to go!" Glenn laughed, slamming his fist into another goblin.

"Like hell you do! The first one doesn’t count."

Damian grunted in agreement.

"...grown ass men, by the way," Karina sighed, shaking her head. "Alright then, the right side is mine for the taking."