[He nods in response to the names—it's good to have a few more to add to his stalking tracking notes. But first, he takes a moment to process what Dante is telling him.]

A proper city-state, then. I hesitate to ask what's outside of it. [If there's only one? Something is severely wrong, he thinks.] Aldrip is relatively small in comparison to the larger cities I know, but we have no shortage of them, large or small. I've traveled to dozens in the last year alone.

[And less so in this past year than the previous ones... His gaze momentarily changes as if drained of feeling, but then he blinks and his mild expression has returned as he looks back to Dante.]

I haven't had the pleasure of meeting any of your team yet, but I'm sure I'll get to it eventually.