"Marcus, come on, there is no way you have not at least heard of them, right?!" Mrazivý asked excitedly.
"Sorry, I think I might have heard the leaders name once before, but I don't know the other two."
Seeing that he really did not know, Mrazivý told him about this adamantine party's most notable achievement within Borealia.
"It was decades ago, before they were even mithril rank, but they strolled into Loursend and beat all three of the bosses in the Ocean Bluff Temple in one day. It was so astounding that pretty much any adventurer active in Loursend for a decent amount of time hears about them. If you look into some of their public records, you will find other amazing achievements.
Like one time, they single handedly fought against a horde of monsters led by a towering Infernal Cyclops."
Mrazivý continued to recount some of Sato Tachibana's party's greatest feats like a hyped-up fangirl. She rarely raved about other adventurers like this, but when the topic came up, she went all in.
Still, one thing she mentioned did cause Marcus to recall hearing about this party before. He could distinctly remember learning about their triple boss monster clear in a single day.
'Though it's not like we could not easily do the same thing now. Even the strongest only reaches up to level thirty-three.' Marcus thought.
Of course, he did not voice what was going through his head. There was no need to put a damper on things.
For several minutes the conversation stayed centered around the only adamantine party in Houten until an obviously important group entered the Great Hall where the banquet was being held.
Unbreakable Bastion Adonis on the other hand was a race Marcus recognized. He was a massive orc and stood at a towering three and a half meters in height. Though not only was he tall, but his bulk was also incredible. The man looked like he was built like a tank. It was easy enough for Marcus to see why he had earned the nickname Unbreakable Bastion.
As for the other people that had just entered, he was unsure of most of their identities. Luckily, he had someone that was more familiar with them to ask.
"Novak, do you know who those people with Sato, Lisa, and Adonis are?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah. That man in the ornate robes and decked out in jewelry is Cerdo Houten, the third prince of Houten. Officially he is the one that is in charge of coordinating us adventurers with the kingdom's army. The man next to him with the scowl on his face, is general Jaiver Borbon.
He is the prince's military adviser and the one that is really calling the shots in regard to how adventurers are going to be deployed in the field. The others are either the princes guard knights or the general's top subordinates."
After listening to Novak's explanation, Marcus better understood what was going on. He had already heard about the prince and the general through his and his companion's sleuthing. But this was the first time seeing either of them, so now he could attach what he learned to actual faces.
'The general is the real deal, but the prince is clearly no fighter. He's probably got a decent level, somewhere between thirty and forty, but he almost certainly obtained it through power leveling.' Marcus thought as he carefully watched these two prominent figures.
There was another person he was incredibly interested in but they had not made an appearance at tonight's banquet so far.
Yet when he asked Novak about her, he was just as uninformed.
"Sorry, I've never seen General Xiomara. All I know is she is the top military official in the city and heading the operation. She's probably just too busy to have time for events like this."