I Became a Witch and Started an Industrial Revolution

In the manor’s dining hall, four people sat around the table eating.

Eliza’s eyes were moist, with faint red marks at the corners, clearly showing that she had not long finished crying.

Betty, while shoveling food into her mouth, looked left and right with curiosity.

Coy, on the other hand, kept sneaking anxious glances at Mitia, who was eating with her head lowered.

The young boy could not hide his feelings—everything was written plainly on his face.

His gaze was so obvious that the other two at the table also turned to look at her.

Mitia secretly used magic to transmit her voice to Coy in exasperation: ‘What are you staring at? At a time like this, you want me to speak up? I think you’re being rather presumptuous. I’m only your sister, after all~’

For two generations, the men of the Astal Family had not returned alive from the battlefield.

Eliza had been able to endure only because she still had two younger ones to care for.

Now, in Mitia’s generation, there was only Coy as the sole male.

How could she speak up on his behalf? Not voicing direct opposition was already showing great respect to this little brat.

Hearing this, Coy’s face fell.

He jabbed the rice in his bowl forcefully with his chopsticks, his expression filled with heavy resentment.

The meal ended hastily under this strange atmosphere.

No one was in the mood for small talk.

After sitting for a while, they each returned to their rooms.

Late at night, a soft knock sounded on Eliza’s door.

“Mom, it’s me.”

“Come in~”

Eliza, who was sitting on the balcony drinking tea, responded.

The door slowly pushed open, and Mitia, dressed in a silk nightgown, walked in.

“Is something the matter?”

“It’s so late, but I saw your light still on, so I thought I’d come check on you.”

Instead of sitting across from her, Mitia leaned sideways into Eliza, resting against her shoulder: “Are you thinking about that brat Coy?”

Eliza chuckled lightly at this, stroking Mitia’s smooth hair.

“Heh, I knew he would come begging you to speak for him.”

“Actually...”

Mitia chose her words carefully.

“He’s only twelve or thirteen right now. Going to the military academy for schooling and receiving some militarized training might not be a bad thing. After all, the world isn’t like it used to be. Relying on brute force alone will put him at a disadvantage.”

“In the future, when he grows up and really joins the army, I can arrange for him to take on more clerical-type work. His promotions would be slow, of course, and there would be limitations.”

All mid- and high-level cadres of the Astal Family, no matter what their work, shared the same starting point: they were required to have served in the border forces.

After transferring from military to civil posts, they still had to spend two years learning at the lowest grassroots level.

Simply put, no matter what became of a person later, they had to understand clearly the hardships and needs of the bottom ranks, and also grasp a basic understanding of the army.

This prevented producing detached good-for-nothings.

That was why Mitia said there would be limitations on Coy’s promotions.

If he did not serve on the front lines, his resume would never pass inspection.

This was a principle she had set, and it was not one she could break.

“I understand what you mean. But... once some things begin, you won’t be able to rein them back, just like your father.”

Eliza’s eyes drifted as she recalled past memories.

Mitia fell silent.

It was true.

Once some paths were set into motion, it was no longer up to her alone to decide how they would end.

Not to mention all the unpredictable variables that came from a person’s independent will.

If one did not join the army system, it was fine—no one cared what the family did.

But once Coy joined, with his elder sister being the current highest governing authority, could others really refrain from speculating that he was being groomed as the future successor?

And if war really broke out, with the entire populace watching, would anyone care that her younger brother was in a clerical position? Would she send him to the frontlines?

If she did not, people would say she was putting on a show, urging other people’s children to die at the front while protecting her own.

If she did, and he returned alive, people would say she was calculating—sending her brother to the front to earn prestige and polish his resume.

And in the worst case, if Coy did not return alive, how could she face her own mother then?

It was useless to say that with her current prestige no one dared to speak against her.

People might not say it aloud, but that did not mean they wouldn’t think it in their hearts.

The matter seemed to be caught in a deadlock, the atmosphere in the room turning heavy.

At that moment, an idea suddenly flashed in Mitia’s mind.

“Mom, if he is determined to go to military school and later enlist, then... when he’s old enough, why don’t we just marry him off first? Let’s raise a substitute!”

“Huh?”

“Huh?!”

Two startled exclamations rang out—one from Eliza, and the other from outside the door.

“You brat! Rotten little brother, you’re eavesdropping!”

“......”

Coy, his face flushed red, pushed open the door and stepped inside.

He glared at his ‘cheap sister’ Mitia before finally mustering the courage to look his mother in the eyes and said:

“Mother, I understand that you’re worried about my safety, but I think I must enlist! In the future, I want to stand in a place where everyone can see me! Because I am a child of the Astal Family!”

“I am also the younger brother of Commander Mitia! If I don’t go, who else will? I want to prove myself with my own ability and bring glory to our family again!”

Facing the impassioned words of the hot-blooded youth, Eliza replied casually, “So you agree with what your sister just said?”

“Uh.....”

“You may attend the military academy. If you don’t enlist afterward, then I won’t object no matter who you like or when you wish to marry.”

Coy: “.....”

“But if you wish to join the army to prove your worth and revitalize the family, then fine. You will start by revitalizing the family’s numbers! I will select suitable wives for you. By the way, Mitia, you didn’t make a rule saying he could only marry one, right?”

Mitia was momentarily stunned by the question.

“Er, no, but legally only the officially registered wife has her position protected by law. As for the others... we don’t interfere!”

How many wives a man took depended on his own ability.

It was not something Mitia could control.

Even if she did try, people could always find loopholes.

Besides, after long-term corruption under the nobility, people’s mindset could not be changed overnight.

So she had shifted her approach—by strengthening the legal and public standing of the official wife to ensure equal access to resources.

That in itself was already huge progress.

Coy: “......”

“Alright then, it’s settled. Everything depends on your own choices, Coy. Now, go on out. Don’t interrupt me and your sister’s talk.”

“And, eavesdropping on a conversation between ladies is very ungentlemanly.”

Eliza gave the order to leave, and the stammering Coy could only shuffle out of his mother’s room in bewilderment.

“Judging from the way he looks, he still hasn’t given up on the idea of enlisting. Sigh~”

Eliza sighed, a trace of worry once again on her face.

Mitia comforted her: “You really don’t need to worry so much. Even if he does end up on the battlefield, with our current strength, the soldiers’ living conditions are quite good. I don’t think his level of danger will be too high.”

“Mitia. Do you know why I once wanted to send you across the sea to study? Because the continent is the true paradise of magicians! The magic elements there are a hundred times richer than they are here.”

“They’re not like us, where even the lowest-level magician can earn a title. Over there, such low-level magicians are no different from ordinary people.”

At this, Mitia’s hair practically stood on end.

She instinctively refuted: “That’s not right! The Principality of Puelentla that we trade with doesn’t have many magicians either!”

“That’s because you’ve only seen the coastal side. The ocean suppresses the range and density of magical elements. And since we are surrounded on all four sides by the sea, naturally we are in the region with the lowest elemental density.”

“！”