I Became a Witch and Started an Industrial Revolution

“Holy Light~ please hear my prayer, listen to my wish~”

A faint white glow spread from the rifle’s stock to its muzzle, and finally unfolded into a lattice barrier in front of the barrel.

【Please descend from the heavens, Hammer of the Holy Light!】

“Bang!”

The metal bullet burst from the muzzle, and after passing through the lattice, its speed surged again, turning into a streak of white light that shot toward the iron target a kilometer away.

With a loud “Boom,” the iron target exploded, leaving a huge hole blasted in the center.

Mitia looked at the scattered debris and smoke in the distance, then turned her head toward Miwei, who was lowering her rifle, the white glow in her eyes gradually fading.

Her face was full of subtle expression: “Who taught you to play like this?”

Miwei tilted her head in confusion.

“Hmm? I don’t know either. At that time, I just felt I could do it, so I used it.”

After speaking, she glanced at the cracks covering the rifle in her hands and commented, “Your muskets are of much better quality than the ones I used before, and the bullets are also much stronger.”

Mitia stroked her chin, observing Miwei up and down for a while before finally asking, “This ability… how many people in your Church can use it?”

“It seems only me. But among my abilities, there’s one that can enhance my teammates’ bullets. As long as they pass through that light curtain, it works. It just consumes a lot. Right now, I can only use it twice a day at most.”

Mitia’s lips twitched.

“…I think I now agree with what that little loli Sherria said. The Goddess of Light must be furious right now.”

Thinking of the scene she had just witnessed, where light elements filled the gun, she pondered aloud:

“Your ability is very important, and I don’t think it’s that our firearms are of poor quality. It should be that the materials are not right.”

“You… perhaps need a firearm made with high-strength materials that can contain magical elements. I remember there are quite a few light-attribute ores in the warehouse. They were seized from the Church… no, borrowed from them.”

“Well, when the time comes, I’ll have a weapon custom-made for you. Its power will definitely be far stronger than this generic version.”

Mitia felt that this world was becoming increasingly incomprehensible.

That golden-haired girl had taken a percussion-cap rifle and somehow managed to fire something like an explosive shell combined with the power of an AWM.

If she gave her a Barrett M82A1, wouldn’t one shot be enough to shoot a bomber out of the sky?

“Eh? This… is that allowed?”

Hearing this, Miwei’s eyes flickered with desire, yet she also felt that the two of them weren’t that close.

It seemed a bit inappropriate to accept such a gift, but she wanted it very much…

Seeing her flushed cheeks, Mitia grinned and wrapped an arm around her.

“Of course it’s allowed. Just take it as a meeting gift from your older sister.”

Although her recent experiences were somewhat complicated, in the end, she was still just a little white rabbit who had only just left a cloistered convent.

She was very easy to coax~

“By the way, with a new Church comes a new outlook. I think you should design vestments of your own. Right now, this pitch-black nun’s robe really doesn’t suit you.”

Mitia shifted the topic, casting a disdainful glance at Miwei’s wide black nun robe.

Nuns wore oversized coarse cloth robes, along with veils and headscarves that covered their whole bodies.

With only a clean, delicate face exposed, they spent their entire lives toiling busily within the convent.

They could not speak loudly, could not laugh, could not yawn.

Everything belonged to the abbess.

Only the abbess and others of her rank were qualified to wear brightly colored clothes, to adorn themselves with jewelry.

Aside from labor and serving statues of the Goddess, the nuns had nothing.

It wasn’t so much the black robes Mitia despised, but rather the meaning behind what they represented.

Miwei looked at her outfit somewhat blankly, feeling nothing wrong with it.

But she didn’t refute Mitia’s suggestion either, because indeed, they needed to differentiate themselves from the old Church.

After some discussion, the two decided that the new vestments would use white as the main color, while the emblem of the Church would remain red.

Though white stained easily, its combination with red was strikingly eye-catching.

In many cases, being dirtied wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Under the current conditions, where most common people lived simply, such a design would actually make it easier for them to blend in with the masses.

At the end, Mitia invited Miwei to attend her enthronement ceremony.

That’s right—enthronement!

After much consideration, needing both to preserve authority and protect the fruits of reform, Mitia ultimately chose a compromise similar to that of emperors in her past world—dual monarchy under a constitutional system.

Many other systems looked good on paper, but given her extremely unique identity and the great tide of a magical world, none were suitable.

Moreover, most of the common people had low levels of education, having long been ruled by kings and nobles.

They carried a certain dependency and habitual mindset.

No matter how much one explained to them, probably nothing would be as effective as a decree issued directly “in the name of the Empress.”

Currently, Mitia’s authority was unlimited, with party, military, and government unified under her.

The external situation was too severe for her to relinquish power.

But if she didn’t set a system now and instead acted like any other autocratic ruler, it would leave behind a disastrous precedent.

If the first generation leader held so much power, what would those who came after think? Would they not also set her achievements as their final goal? Those who understood, understood.

Thus, constitutional monarchy was actually the best option available to her.

Because she intended to detach from the Astal Family, there would be a monarch but no royal house.

She would be the first and last.

With the party and military firmly in hand, she could form a ruling parliament to delegate power, otherwise she alone would be overwhelmed.

But the most important decrees would still need her review and approval.

She would be the head of state, chief justice, supreme tax official, party leader, commander-in-chief of the armed forces—simply put, the “Supreme Leader.”

She would hold the power to appoint and dismiss prime ministers, ministers, judges, and officers.

She could convene, suspend, and dissolve parliament, ratify laws, declare war or peace.

In truth, with her prestige, whether she had the legal right to intervene or not didn’t matter—her word alone could decide.

If she wanted, she could even step aside and play at an “offline monarch” system…

After conquering the Hendak Territory, the Astal Family’s lines were fully connected.

The troops from Hendak began reinforcing other fronts.

One force merged with the army that had previously cut off the supply lines, then in one decisive strike captured Memlotorh.

Another force coordinated with troops attacking the Lausach Territory from above, carrying out a pincer attack.

Guided by common people who acted as pathfinders, they seized it as well.

Once everything was pacified, the Astal domain already had the scale of a proper nation.

Thus, it was time to consider founding a country, reorganizing internally, and presenting themselves anew to the world.

As for the name of this country, Mitia had already long decided…

【National Socialist Federation of Seris】

She needed a name without regional or racial characteristics.

The word Seris had never appeared in this world.

No one knew its special meaning, which made it rather “appropriate.”