Cless looked at the two sleeping monsters in their nests. They were there sleeping and evolving for three days already. One of the basement rooms was converted into a monster kennel with straw beds for Kate and Shad. They ate a lot before going to sleep and now were in the process of evolution. It should take a few days for their bodies to change. She pulled up their status sheets. Kate was way stronger than Shad for their level, having more than one Stat point per level than the smaller monster but she was a floor boss for some time. Feeding off of the miasma vent made monsters stronger. They should acquire a new trait for their evolution, maybe two for Shad as he was doubling up the level fifty-one and the hundred-and-one.

Kate — Level 103 slemuroth.

Base Stats: — Strength 267 (+26) — Agility: 64 (+22) — Health: 165 (+28) — Intellect: 20 (+22)

Shared Skill: [Eat Anything]

Traits:

[Not Again]: Passive — Divide the damage from any source by the number of times you suffered the same attack in the last 24 hours.

[Sleep Dust]: Active — Cooldown 5 minutes. Spread a cloud of sleep dust.

[Enrage]: Active — Goes on a rampage, doubling Strength and Agility for 5 minutes. Fall asleep for one hour right afterward.

Shad — Level 103 male crystalback drillmole.

Base Stats — Strength: 103 (+26) — Agility: 149 (+22) — Health: 123 (+28) — Intellect: 31 (+22)

Shared Skill: [Eat Anything]

Traits:

[Mega Drill]: Active — Cooldown 10 minutes. Increase digging speed by 5x for 1 minute.

[Glittering Shards]: Passive — Decrease hit chance of sight-dependent attacks by 30%.

Cless found out that sharing [Eat Anything] with her monsters was a surefire way to curb the food bill. They had the bonuses from both her Tamer and Princess class since they were assigned as her guardian Knights. But they were not really intelligent like people and could not enter the Hird, unfortunately. The boosts were still nice though.

She had no idea how the evolutions were chosen and was cross she couldn't directly decide that. Maybe an advanced class for monsters. Well, she couldn't do like, nothing at the moment, so she shoved her annoyance to a faraway place in her mind. Making sure they both were comfortable, she left the room.

During these three days, she didn't idle around. She wanted to change her house, annoyed for the lack of access and communication between floors and also by the cramped feeling of having all doors open to the balcony around the grand hall. She spent all this time molding the underground, creating a second basement floor that was a spitting copy of the first but with ten meters of solid stone between them and moving more stone upstairs. She would need almost half as much stone as she used for the house for her planned expansion.

Cless wanted to read the history book she got from the Dungeon, but was afraid of what she could find inside. She wanted to stabilize her life before opening it. The word "Ragnarok" sounded ominous. Maybe some old tragic hero, or some war. Whatever it was, she had a hunch it was important to her. The Dungeons had a knack for gifting them with just the item they needed, even though they didn't know they needed it. Take the class book for example. It was exactly what they needed. Or Vic's scepter and tail armor. Where would she find those items were it not for the Dungeon gifting them out?

She returned to her room and reviewed her plan. Expand the house to accommodate more corridors and private access between floors. Gather timber to craft furniture and other fixtures. Gather sand to make enough glass. Finish the house and furnish it. Find the entrance to the Dungeon from the catacombs. Discover what are these mysterious creatures moving down at the edge of [Tremorsense] in the flooded depths. She flipped her notes and found another point she missed. "Visit the City Planner". What in the Infernal Realm did they want?

Cless shook her head and spoke to herself. "I guess I have to go there and check. If they are taking away part of my land, I need to either fight back or see if I can get compensation."

She already pushed this three days. It wouldn't be good to stay holed up any longer. Cless selected a pretty dress and modified it a little, adding some of the silk lace she bought. She wore only the trusted brass-iere as armor underneath and closed the neckline with a white fabric. Throwing some long white gloves and heeled shoes with also white stockings, she was ready to visit the City Planner. She dropped by Venaris' room.

"I'm going to visit the City Planner. I should be back in a couple hours."

The gnome was just lazying around in her underwear. She seemed a little flustered to see Cless barge in and the human girl thought if she did something inappropriate. Probably not.

"Oh. Okay, be safe out there. Is there anything I can do for you?" Venaris asked, a little annoyed.

"Give me an improved Invisibility so I can sneak out through the church."

Invisible, Cless made to the City Planner office in a good time. It was next door to the Real Estate agency Clegane worked from and the two places were probably the same but with two front doors. She entered and found a receptionist lad working the front desk. The place was very austere, with dark brown wood panels and doors. Fancy but not extravagant.

"Good morning, ma'am. What can I do for you?"

"Guild master Cless of the Blind Eye. I received a message saying the City Planner wanted to talk to me."

"I have to confirm. Please wait a minute." He disappeared down a door and returned several minutes later. "The City Planner will see you now, guild master."

He led her down the same door to an office. A wooden sign revealed it was indeed the City Planner's office. The kid introduced her by name and opened the door after a tenor voice called them in. Inside she found a man with a brown beard well-trimmed, some age behind his eyes and a friendly expression. He was standing next to his desk, and a leather chair still moving around denoted he had just vacated his seat. He clapped his hand and pointed to a couch.

"Guild master Cless! I'm Stanley, the City Planner. Please, take a seat."

She sat and nodded. "Mr. Stanley. I received your invitation," She said with a bit of irony in the invitation part. Cless was suspicious but she trusted her Skills would warn her of danger. "What is it about?"

"The Lord granted me this task, to find a worthy permutation for the graveyard to offer you. It is in the City and the Church's best interests to convert the graveyard into a public space, and it is currently lawfully owned by you," he put a lot of seriousness on the lawfully part, probably to grant her some peace of mind. "Therefore we needed to accommodate your request. I'm sorry it took this long to vacate the plots of land next to the church, but I am sure this would be of interest to you. Please allow me."

He went to his desk and took a large piece of parchment rolled up. He opened it and showed a map of the outskirts of the church. It had her plot of land well-marked in blue, as well as the streets and properties. The graveyard perimeter was marked in red and the church in green. He pointed to an area of several houses right to the side of the church. These were marked in a deep blue and Cless could use the mathematical abilities of [Perfect Accounting] to notice the area was almost double the graveyard. She didn't speak and Stanley picked up his pace.

"This area here in dark blue will be added to your estate with the Lord's grace, in exchange for the graveyard. You do notice that this is nearer the Central Square than the church and a premium piece of land, less than two hundred meters to the Delver Association front door."

She looked around the map, searching for details or hidden notes. It seemed to her that this map was drawn especially for her case because the ink seemed new and she found some parts where ink was cut off with a knife here and there. In particular, the plots on the other side of the church had several knife scratches. She raised a finger to point but Stanley was on it.

"One of my assistants," He cleared his throat. "He misjudged the importance of this request and tried to evict the people on the other side of the church, to open a narrow passage. But I was able to correct his mistake and impart on him the importance that guild master Cless' will have in our city, after all, you slew the infamous Butcher and reached rank six in your first delve! I must say, your Earth mage erected a lovely building, miss. Is he the one you call Vic?"

She raised an eyebrow and uttered a polite and short peal of laughter. "I see Mr. Stanley is well informed. But you assumed wrong. Vic doesn't do Earth magic." She cut it off and waited, but Stanley didn't talk back. She continued. "I can assume the people that lived and had a business in these vacated lots were properly compensated for their trouble and not forced to leave their homes, right?"

"Yes. Some of the places on the deeds you liberated from that rat Clegane were unoccupied and in a better, central position in the City. We offered these in exchange for them. No problem at all in this front."

She noticed another set of scratch marks on the other side of the street, the lot that shared their backside with the Association backyard where she fought Xander. "Is this lot occupied too? I have a great interest in a storefront for my associates."

In the corner of her eye, she could see the corner of his mouth twitch, a sign of annoyance. "I believe it is, I'd have to check," He lied.

Cless had a hunch that she could get more than they were offering in this negotiation. She pondered on what were the City and the Lord's position. The leader of the local clergy was imprisoned by his orders, and he lost his position and departed in self-exile. The Church was obviously out for blood, and gifting them the graveyard would go a long way to appease their anger. In this view, the graveyard was worth more than double the land.

"I am willing to trade-in. The Earth mage that created my house is none other than myself," As you probably know because I am sure someone looked into the sawmill and saw my golem if you are so keen in gathering info about me, you rascal, She mentally added. "I can offer to work on a project in exchange for this place, and we put everything together in one bundle. What do you say?"

She gave him an olive branch in the form of work. Maybe that would be enough. It was, as she saw Stanley's smile open wide.

"Yes, yes. We are planning a City expansion on the southern ward, if you could make two hundred meters of City Walls, the deal is sealed."

"When am I supposed to do these City walls?"

"Before summer, if possible. Some high echelon scions are marrying and we want to expand to accommodate their new houses. Maybe they would even commission your work, who knows?"

"Not interested at the moment. I'll do it if you agree to keep the extension, this lot and the wall construction confidential. I don't want my name associated with any of the two. Penalties for violation of the agreement on your part is double the current value of the wall expansion and the extra plot. You can let the Lord know, of course, but none else."

"I agree."

She bound him with her Skill. Cless took a scroll from her pocket and handed it to him.

"Here is my deed. I'll come by in two days to pick up the plans for the wall expansion and the updated documents. And I expect you to uphold your part of our bargain, Mr. Stanley."

"Thank you very much, guild master. I'll give orders to bring you straight to my office during your next visit."

They shook hands. Cless looked in his eyes. "In two days, by this time. I'll be here."