"No one? How could that be?"
The minotaur Torrenier immediately gave him a look that said, Do you take me for an idiot?
In his memory, even the legendary ghost ships had a few spectral undead figures visible on their decks.
But this matter was of great importance, and he did not dare jump to conclusions about the reliability of the intelligence. After thinking it over, he said gravely to the two ogre Mages:
"Please wait here, gentlemen. I'll go up and take a look."
With that, he braved the terrifying gale and torrential rain, making his way to an abandoned lighthouse on the island. Cautiously, he pulled a wooden tube telescope from his belt and wiped it against his clothes.
He had seized this tube telescope from a noble captive. It allowed ordinary people to gain viewing distance comparable to the [Eagle Eye Spell], making it quite miraculous. He treasured it dearly; anyone who so much as tried to touch it would face his furious wrath.
As the telescope extended his view, he could faintly make out five merchant ships—one large and four small—that had lowered their mainsails yet were still forcing their way through the storm and cleaving the waves.
This striking sight somewhat overturned Torrenier's common sense.
As he understood it, if one failed to reach a harbor or natural bay before a storm arrived, then the only option was to lower the mainsail at once and continually adjust the ship's heading according to the wind, ensuring it met the wind and waves head-on to keep its broadside from being overturned.
But that was all one could do. Surviving a storm at sea was already a stroke of immense luck, yet after weathering it, ships often had no idea what far-flung corner the storm had blown them