I assumed you would be buying an off the shelf touring bike, did not know you are building up wheels for a frame.
I have occasionally heard someone say that fewer spokes gives more cushion, but I think that is a crock. You are talking about a touring bike, I assume you are using 35 or 37mm tires on it. Or maybe 32mm at the narrowest. Maybe you can feel more cushion if you are riding 23mm tires or high pressure tubular tires on a race bike, but that is not the case here. I can't possibly imagine that you would notice any extra cushion on a wheel with a tire like that with fewer spokes.
I always want 36 spokes on touring bikes, especially the rear wheel.
When I built up my titanium bike (Lynskey Backroad) for light touring, nobody had the dynohub that I wanted in 36, everyone was out of stock on it. But I found one in Germany on sale that was 32 spoke. Thought about if for a bit and decided that 32 in front should be ok because the front has much less weight on it than 36. Thus that bike has 32 spoke front, 36 rear. My other two touring bikes are 36 on front and rear.
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I think I previously suggested to you that someone in your group should know how to true up wheels and replace a spoke. Since you are paying someone to build up wheels, you should buy spare spokes, a couple drive side rear and a couple front spokes would only cost a few more bucks. You probably will never need them but it is a good insurance policy.
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Since you are building up wheels, have you considered a dynohub? The cost is the extra amount you pay for a dynohub minus the amount that the regular hub would cost. The difference in price is small. But, fitting a dynohub to a touring bike later costs a lot more. Thus, if you might ever want a dynohub, get it now.
If you got a dynohub, there would be extra cost for the USB charger or lights or both, but that is a different topic.
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This is my Backroad, 32 spoke in front, 36 rear, 37mm tires.