Transmigrated as a Ghost

"So, what did you guys find?" Marcus asked once Mrazivý, Lilia, and Miguel reached him and his beast companions.

Immediately he was able to gauge how successful their information gathering was by the expressions on their faces.

Mrazivý was all smiles and looked ready to share, but Lilia and Miguel were frowning, and it was clear that their time out on the town had not been as fruitful.

"Sorry, I thought that I might be able to learn something down at the public laundry from gossiping men and women, but all I heard about were the multitude of affairs going on in the city. Some of them were about high-ranking officers, but unless we plan on blackmailing them for some reason, I don't think anything I learned is going to be of any use." Lilia said, looking exasperated.

She had gotten a high volume of information, but pretty much all of it was worthless for their goals.

Miguel did not do much better. He had spent the last several years actively avoiding meaningful contact with people and was lacking in social skills. He was capable enough to speak with people normally, but starting conversations and trying to lead them towards certain topics was beyond him.

"I did locate some weapons shops and stores catering towards adventurers, but I'm pretty sure that we already have everything we need in those regards. Sorry I wasn't able to do anything else. I'm not really used to this kind of thing." Miguel said, a remorseful expression on his face.

"No, there's no need to worry about it. We all went out alone to cover as much ground as possible. I already knew that some of us weren't going to turn up anything. We've only been here a few hours, so it's not a big deal."

Marcus made sure to assure Miguel and Lilia that they did not need to let it eat them up inside.

"Now, you look pretty eager to talk, I'm guessing you found out something interesting." Marcus said, finally addressing Mrazivý.

"You bet I did. I focused my intel gathering on the forces within the city. I did not learn everything, but I know the approximate number of soldiers, sell swords, and adventurers in and around the city." Mrazivý said proudly.

With great enthusiasm she told all of them about what she found out.

To start, there were around eight hundred thousand soldiers, city guards, and knights that all worked directly for the kingdom that had gathered. From what Mrazivý had dug up, this was pretty much the entirety of Houten's military forces. They were throwing everything they had at taking back their lost capital.

"No wonder the capital had a crime problem. Almost every single decent fighter in the country is here." Miguel commented, his expression conveying his disapproval.

"It certainly is a bit weird. I can understand why they want to take back the former capital, but aren't they worried about protecting their borders?" Marcus wondered out loud.

"Oh, did you forget, Houten has the protection of the adventurers guild now. If any of the other countries around attack them, it will bring down the wrath of the entire guild. An emergency quest will go out to every mithril and adamantine rank adventurer on the continent and they will assist with repelling any invaders.

Only idiots or nations with enough power to fight against the guild would attack Houten even if their borders are practically defenseless right now."

Hearing Mrazivý's explanation, Marcus nodded his head in understanding. If the leaders of adventurers guild got serious, they could bring together a force strong enough to topple just about any country in the world.

"Okay, so they aren't worried about being attacked by outside forces and have mustered every single person they can for this attack. What about adventurers though? Did you find out anything interesting?" Marcus asked.

"Of course. I learned that there are around forty thousand adventurers in the city waiting to participate in the operation. From cooper to adamantine rank, pretty much everyone on the continent that could make it in time is here. The pay was just that alluring."

Mrazivý then told them about the number of high-ranking parties that were currently in the city.

At the platinum rank there were apparently eighty-two parties that had at least one platinum rank adventurer. As for mithril ranks, there were twenty-two parties not including their own. And finally, there was only a single party of adamantine adventurers in the city.

"Did you find out anything else about the top adventurers here? I'm particularly interested in the party of adamantine adventurers."

"Sorry, I did not get any details about them, or any of the other high rankers. Still, since we're here as mithril rank adventurers, I'm sure we'll have a chance to meet them before the mission starts."

With the number of soldiers and adventurers out of the way, all that was left were the sell swords that were not affiliated with any organizations.

Their numbers apparently were around sixty-five thousand, though most of them were nothing too impressive from Mrazivý had heard.

"Overall, were looking at a bit more than nine hundred thousand people. That's quite the force that Houten's put together. Almost seems like overkill." Lilia said.

"Hm, I don't know. Houten's former capital city is a den of the undead now. It would not be impossible for their numbers to be well over a million. It's not like we know how many people were in the city when it fell. Plus, all the people that have died in the failed attempts to reclaim the city will have been added to the undead army." Miguel said, wearing a grave expression.

It was very possible that their side would be the ones that were outnumbered.

"Well, it is not like we need to worry too much about which side is stronger. Our objective is only to obtain a ghost king's core and maybe some other leftover treasure. Whether Houten wins or loses doesn't matter to us." Marcus said, shrugging his shoulders in indifference.