Chapter 261: This is the territory of the Land of Flame!

Under the investigation of the personnel dispatched by the Church, the origins of the potatoes and sweet potatoes were quickly traced.

Of course, they only traced it back to Lord Hawk.

"Bishop Bowman, my lord, the origins have been traced. These three crops were all sold by Lord Hawk's merchant guild!"

A subordinate reported to the bishop of the Eastern Parish, Bishop Bowman.

"Lord Hawk? He's a viscount, isn't he?"

Bishop Bowman asked.

"He should be, my lord."

"Let's go pay him a visit."

Bishop Bowman led a squad of Temple Knights, marching in grand procession toward Lord Hawk's territory.

A short while later, they entered Lord Hawk's territory and were warmly received by Lord Hawk.

A little over an hour later, Lord Hawk warmly saw them off again.

"This old fox won't say a single thing!"

Bishop Bowman was furious.

Though he was a Church bishop, he had no authority to take harsh measures against a viscount of the Hiling Kingdom.

Especially since Lord Hawk had been cooperative from start to finish, showing not the slightest disrespect.

But an old fox is an old fox—Lord Hawk said a great deal, yet not a single sentence touched on the origins of these three items.

"Send people to keep Lord Hawk's entire territory under surveillance. I refuse to believe these things materialized out of thin air!"

Bishop Bowman said.

"Yes, my lord!"

A Temple Knight responded.

Before long, the personnel dispatched by the Church had Lord Hawk's entire territory under full surveillance.

These people were all watching the caravans going in and out of Lord Hawk's territory.

These caravans were all transporting the three crops, cart by cart, to other cities for sale.

Quite a few of the caravans belonged to Lord Hawk's own merchant guild, but there were also large numbers of caravans from other merchant guilds.

Lord Hawk understood one principle well: to grow a business big, one must not hoard all the profits—especially when his own strength was insufficient.

So Lord Hawk pulled in many other nobles, binding them to his own war chariot.

He would wholesale nearly half of the goods to other nobles at a price only slightly higher than the cost price, and those nobles would then haul them to other cities in the Hiling Kingdom to sell!

Though the profit earned this way was a bit less, the volume had grown, and it also met the requirement Mia had told him about.

When it came to his only granddaughter's words, Lord Hawk was quite obedient.

The personnel dispatched by the Church watched for several full days, but they only saw caravans loaded with goods leaving, never saw caravans loaded with goods entering.

"With so many of you, how is it you still haven't traced the source of the goods?"

Bishop Bowman was getting angry.

These people had always been quite capable in the past, so why couldn't they handle even such a small matter this time!

As a viscount, Lord Hawk's territory was not small.

But it certainly couldn't be called large either.

The Church had sent several hundred people, enough to achieve full surveillance.

"My lord, only caravans loaded with goods are leaving, none loaded with goods are entering."