Once Marcus and his companions had exited the guild hall, the eleven of them immediately split up.
While the city of Armadura was not among the largest places they had been, it was still sizable and there was too much ground for them to cover if they stayed together as a group. Instead, each of them was taking part of the city and scoping it out while at the same time gathering intel.
During their time with the caravan, they had obtained a great deal of information, but the only way to learn the current situation in the city was from the people that lived there.
'Time for a little spectral eavesdropping.' Marcus thought as he slinked away into a deserted area and went into his ghost form.
Now unseen and able to pass through solid objects, he made his way through the streets and checked things out while listening in on people's conversations.
For the next several hours he went around this way and picked up on several interesting things that were currently going on in the city.
When Marcus returned to the entrance of the guild hall where he and his party members agreed to meet back up at, he found that his three beast companions were the only ones to have arrived.
"It looks like the two of you enjoyed yourselves." Marcus said, looking at the several bundles of food that both Roxene and Inten had collected. From all appearances it seemed that the two of them spent their all of their time going around eating.
"Yeah, this place has some good restaurants. I was surprised to find that their specialty is actually meat from a type of snake monster that they rear in large enclosers." Roxene said unabashedly as she threw a fried nugget filled with snake meat into her mouth.
When Marcus looked to Inten, he found that the great diamond mouse had purchased all manner of seeds, nuts, and cheeses.
However, this was not all Blitz found. One of the beasts he had talked to used to be the mount of a prince and knew one of the reasons the royal family of Houten was so desperate to regain control over the city.
"Oh, so Houten's royal family doesn't have the magical device that serves as proof of their rulership."
Marcus did not know much about these magic devices that allowed people to gain positions of power, receive noble titles, and gain access to special magic within their own territories, but he did know that they were necessary for anyone that wanted to properly control a nation in this world.
'I remember that Boreas once told me that he found the device he used to establish Borealia in the Great Gome Woods Dungeon. If the only way to obtain one is to get lucky in a high-level dungeon, I suppose going after one that exists already, even if it is in such a hostile environment, makes more senses.' Marcus thought analyzing the information he had just learned.
Nevertheless, even without the magical device, it seemed that Houten was managing to get by. Most likely the royal family had a lesser one in their possession that still gave them at least enough power to continue running the nation.
"Good job Blitz. The intel you collected is definitely not something that can just be found on the street. The second piece of information is almost certainly on the level of a national secret." Marcus said, patting Blitz on the back.
He then promised to make Blitz whatever dish he wanted, and the Emperor Kirin happily accepted Marcus' offer and began listing his requests.
Feeling left out, Roxene and Inten attempted to weasel their way in and get Marcus to make them whatever they wanted as well, but he shut them down quickly.
"You two already have plenty of food you bought in the city. Blitz spent his time actually doing what I asked, not gorging himself like you two." Marcus said, wearing a smirk.
Roxen and Inten looked crestfallen, but Marcus simply turned away from them and looked off into the distance. He had sensed their presences a while ago, and now he could see Mrazivý, Lilia, and Miguel approaching.