I became a witch, but I started the industrial revolution

After saying this, Medea bowed to the audience.

Everyone stared at Medea doing all this in a daze.

In all their life experiences and the rumors they had heard, this was the first time that a great noble would bow and apologize to a lowly person like them! Even the old Marquis Ackerman had never done this before.

Chapter 4 You store food and I store guns

"We believe!"

Someone in the crowd responded loudly, and the people around them gradually woke up from their surprise.

The caravan of grain behind Medea kept telling them that she was not talking nonsense, and everything she said was true, so they all agreed:

"We believe in you!"

"Yes, yes! We believe in Lady Medea! We believe in the Astaire family!"

Medea heaved a sigh of relief, knowing that there would not be any uprising or the like in the short term, so she could free her hands to deal with other problems.

Mitia retreated amid the cheers of the crowd, then she walked to Graf and asked in a cold voice: "Uncle, is there anything wrong with her stomach?"

Graf was a little confused when he heard this, and then he thought of what Medea meant by asking this question, and looked at the underage Medea awkwardly:

"No, no problem..."

Graf was embarrassed when he said this. Mitia didn't say anything, but her eyes became sharper. Graf hesitated for a while and finally explained: "Her husband died, and her mother-in-law let her live with his younger brother..."

...

There is really nothing wrong with this, but it cannot be said openly.

"Forget it... No, her husband died, didn't I give him a pension? How did it become like this?"

The money that Medea distributed was definitely not a small amount. A normal civilian family of three could use it for five years if they were frugal. Even during the current famine period when food prices skyrocketed, it could still sustain them for about one or two years.

This time Graf replied quickly. He smiled bitterly and said, "They were Viscount Hunter's subjects before, but he robbed them..."

Medea closed her eyes, tried to control her anger and began to think of a solution.

This Hunter was a nobleman whom Ackerman admired very much during his lifetime. It was actually not easy for her to touch the people left behind by Ackerman at the moment.

But Grandpa Ackerman lowered the land commission so low and increased taxes on the landowners, which greatly damaged their interests.

When he was alive, he could suppress them with his reputation and force, but now that he is gone, the situation has become cold. If he doesn't take action against them, they will come and attack Media.

And strictly speaking, Medea cannot govern them for the time being.

Because she has not yet arrived in the capital to be formally ennobled, she does not have legal jurisdiction yet, otherwise people would not call her Miss Medea, but directly call her Marquis Medea.

But...she insisted on taking care of it.

"Copy the house!"

"Wha...what?!"

Throwing the Lord's collar to Graf, and extending a finger for his sleeping brother to suck, Medea walked quickly towards the carriage, without even turning his head, and said:

"Search their homes, confiscate all their property, and exile the entire Hunter family."

"Remember, this is in the name of the Astaire Territory. I am not the Marquis of Medea yet."

If she met someone who was looking for death, she wouldn't mind using him as a breakthrough point to open up the situation.

"...I obey your command!"

Graf's eyes lit up when he heard Medea's last words, and then a ruthless look appeared on his face. He had long been annoyed with this bully, but he had no right to do anything to him before.

Looking at Graf's back as he walked away excitedly, Medea smiled lightly and got on the carriage.

It's normal for Graf to have concerns, and this is also for her consideration

Graf is the best friend and brother-in-law of Medea's father, who grew up with him. Her mother is Graf's sister, and Medea's uncle. The two families have a very close relationship.

Moreover, he has not yet married and has no children, so his loyalty is unquestionable, and he is the right-hand man left to Medea by her father.

It's just that the free reading in the library allows her to stand on the shoulders of her predecessors and see things more clearly.

Although Ackerman's reputation is suppressing the situation for the time being, it is obvious that some people have begun to have ulterior motives.

Moreover, her intuition told her that the deaths of Ackerman and the other two were probably not simple, so she could not rely too much on Ackerman's remaining influence during his lifetime.

Distributing the pensions was the first thing she did after taking over the affairs, and tampering with it was obviously a test of her bottom line.

Medea, who rose to power through the influence of his deceased elder, was obviously not taken seriously by this group of people. They did not think that Medea, who was only twelve or thirteen years old, had the courage to punish them.

There are only two women in power in the Astar family now, and the boy is still in the cradle. Who wouldn't want to be exterminated?

You should know that promotion to a noble title is not only possible on the battlefield, but also through marriage.

But they only saw the huge benefits contained in it, but did not understand the most important point...

[Having courage is one thing, having strength is another. 】

Graf, who received the order, took away the 500 infantrymen and two magicians who had escorted the grain team. Later, a 100-man light cavalry would join them.

There would not be any surprises if such armed forces were to attack a small noble who only had a hundred or so private soldiers at most. Even Hunter did not expect that he would be attacked.

Because he had reasons not to be afraid of getting into trouble. Although it seemed that he was doing this alone, in fact, he had the support of most of the manor owners under the jurisdiction of Astar.

This combined force is definitely not weak. Even if old Ackerman were still around, he would have to carefully consider the feelings of these people.

Unfortunately, his opponent, whether now or in his previous life, can only be regarded as a child, and children are more inclined to cut the Gordian knot.

"boom!"

"Click"

Hunter, hiding in the castle, looked down in horror. Two magicians in front of the neat army formation were bombarding the castle gate. The heavy wooden door was already wailing and was about to collapse.

He couldn't understand why Medea dared to take action. Wasn't she worried that other lords who received the news would unite to resist?

As for his private soldiers, they surrendered early after seeing the huge difference in numbers.

"Viscount Hunter Tulum, you are suspected of maliciously misappropriating the pensions for the families of fallen soldiers, evading taxes, and forcibly abducting women... and other crimes. You are now arrested according to the law, all your property will be confiscated, and your family members will be exiled."

Graf read out loud the charges against Hunter. He was not speaking to Hunter himself, but to the people who were watching around him. It was necessary to keep the reasons legitimate.

Hunter in the castle poked his head out and shouted at the top of his lungs: "I don't accept it! I am a noble! This is a matter within my territory. Lord Medea has no right to directly judge nobles! I want to complain to the King about the lord's disrespect to me!"

Graf said expressionlessly: "Sure! You can throw the letter out. I will accept your request on behalf of the Lord."

"But I'm sorry, we don't have a lord now, so we can't respond to your request. Without the lord's order, I will continue to judge you according to the decree of the Astor Territory!"

Hunter: “…”

Hunter was stunned. No lord? What does that mean? What about that bitch of Medea?

Thinking about Graf's wording, he quickly realized that the bitch was playing word games with him!

They took advantage of the fact that Medea was not yet a marquis officially canonized by the king and played a double game with her to deceive the superiors and the subordinates.

She actually used the fact that she had not been given a title to fight back against them.

Territorial decrees do not apply to nobles. Territorial laws are local laws, while nobles are directly appointed by the kingdom. They have the highest level of national immunity, but this immunity has a process.

First of all, the nobles will still be held accountable by local laws, and the territory will investigate whether they have committed any illegal acts. If not, then naturally there will be no problem.

If a noble commits an illegal act, he will be punished, but he can apply for exemption from the local highest official, the great lord, by using the kingdom's ordinance that states that nobles are not subject to punishment.

The great lords themselves all have corresponding noble titles, so they must abide by the noble laws of the kingdom. The final result is basically that the small nobles just have to pay a certain amount of fines.

But right now, Astar Territory just happened to have no lord in the legal sense of the kingdom. Who could Hunter go to apply to?

Perhaps he could apply for exemption from the kingdom's arbitration after Medea was canonized by the kingdom, but by then it would be a question whether he would have the money to offset the crime if his property was confiscated.

The kingdom's current protection of the nobles in Astar is in fact ineffective because they can't even find anyone to hold accountable.

Medea is the heir to the marquisate, but the heir is not necessarily a marquis. No matter who is held responsible, she cannot be blamed. The only thing that stands out is that she cannot be chosen.

After slapping the crying lady twice to silence her, Hunter paced back and forth in annoyance, thinking about a solution.

However, before he could come up with anything, a noise even louder than the previous one came from below. Hunter's face suddenly turned pale. He knew that the city gate had been breached.

Chapter 5 is about revenge, right?

Astor's army broke through the castle and swarmed in, faithfully carrying out Medea's orders.

Search, control, interrogate, and search.

When Graf followed Hunter, who was tied up like a dumpling, to the underground storage area in the castle and pushed open the heavy door, Graf's breathing suddenly became heavy.

Because all you can see are neatly stacked woven bags to the top, he unsheathed his sword and stabbed it hard into one of the bags, and when he pulled it out, he also brought out some yellow and brown particles.

Graf grabbed a handful and held it in front of his eyes, his joy evident on his face. Although the grain was old, it had not been stored for a very long time.

Food! All food! And according to Hunter, his family has four such warehouses!

At this time, Medea had also returned to the manor. She hurriedly asked her mother to finish feeding her brother, and continued to play with the little thing for a while. Then she began to prepare to do some serious work.

As for Graf, she had never been worried from the beginning.

The Astar family is a noble family with real titles. Except for the territories they acquired in the beginning, they acquired the rest through self-conquest. The soldiers under their command are elite border troops who have been forged through actual combat.

Medea does not have the legitimacy of the title of Marquis, but she can use the power of the Astaire family.

That's why she reminded Graf to deal with the Hunter family in the name of the Astaire family.

Jurisdiction is a matter of name, but whether to kill or not is a matter of strength

The manor owners under the great lords had no direct relationship with the king, and the territory was the sacred and inviolable private property of the lord's family.

All disputes within the territory are decided by the lord himself, but the nobles within the lord's territory are canonized by the kingdom, and the lord has the obligation to protect the nobles in the territory.

If nobles are treated unfairly, the king can supervise or raise objections.

At this time, Medea was not yet an official lord, nor had she inherited her grandfather's title, so she had neither the obligation nor the qualifications to be responsible for the nobles in the territory.

Don't think this is unnecessary. Other noble families that own territories may have more than a dozen heirs in order of rank. If the nominal legitimacy is not strengthened by legal principles, then everything will be a mess.

Therefore, the family power will not listen to any heir and can only be mobilized after being formally enthroned by the king.

Perhaps this is also the reason why those manor owners subconsciously ignored the danger and felt that there would be no serious consequences even if they failed.

A group of new generations left behind by Ackerman before his expedition in the territory, which is now the main force of Uruk, the Youth Army