Chapter 145 - 144: What’s Meant to Come Will Come
Under the manipulation of the Efreeti, the dormant volcano began smoking the very next day, but the amount of smoke was minimal, akin to lighting some branches for cooking. Had Leon not been watching closely, he wouldn’t have been able to see it clearly.
By the third and fourth day, the volume of smoke was considerable. However, considering the strong sea breeze, which easily dispersed the smoke, it was impossible for anyone in Watchtower Port, located tens of kilometers away from the Volcanic Island, to notice. However, this did not prevent fishermen, who were far from Watchtower Port and closer to the Volcanic Island, from noticing a mountain starting to smoke.
Elves, with their long lifespans, had seen the volcano on the island erupt before. Knowledgeable scholars recognized the volcanic cone and knew what it meant when a volcano began smoking. Unfortunately, the fishermen knew nothing and could only speculate that someone was making a fire on the mountain.
As the smoke from the Volcanic Island grew thicker and more persistent, and considering that there was only smoke without visible flames, someone eventually reported this strange phenomenon.
The de facto ruler of Watchtower Port was a merchant guild of the Talia Alliance, known as the Gold Shore Chamber of Commerce.
Naturally, the Gold Shore Chamber of Commerce had capable people who recognized that the small island in the Flash Sea had a mountain that was, in fact, a volcano. Now that it began smoking, there was a chance it could erupt at any moment. If an eruption was significant, the blanket of volcanic ash would definitely affect Watchtower Port.
Why had it, after hundreds of years of dormancy, suddenly started spewing smoke?
It must be some doing of the Fire Melt Salamanders living on that island. Most of them are cultists who worship the malevolent Fire Element Prince, Yimixi.
Better safe than sorry; it was necessary to take precautions against unforeseen events, and the Gold Shore Chamber of Commerce certainly had the money for it.
Hiring adventurers to venture onto the island to investigate the situation would clear things up, and everyone could sleep peacefully at night.
Just applying for funding of fifty Gold Coins, offering ten Gold Coins as a reward for adventurers, and the remaining forty... Real estate prices in Miren are really getting more expensive by the day. This amount of money wouldn’t even buy a restroom.