Week 5: サイレント・ウィッチ 🤫 🧙‍♀️

[Redglare]

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Silent Witch Home Thread

Week 5

Start Date: Feb 1
Previous Part: Week 4
Next Part: Week 6

Reading:

Week	Chapter	End page	End %	End on	Page Count
Week 5	三章	76	26%	End of 三章	18

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Proper nouns

Name	Note
ケルベック伯爵領
ウォーガン山脈
リディル王国
アガサ	侍女
イザベル・ノートン	ケルベック伯爵令嬢
アラン	馬丁、アガサの弟
シェフィールド	風の精霊王
モニカ・エヴァレット	沈黙の魔女
ネロ
アニー
ミネルヴァ	school
ルイス・ミラー	結界の魔術師
リィンズベルフィード (リン)	風の上位精霊
ライオネル	第一王子, 27 yo
フェリクス	第二王子, 18 yo
アルバート	第三王子, 14 yo
セレンディア学園
クロックフォード公爵	第二王子の祖父
ダスティン・ギュンター	作家
ロザリー・ミラー	ルイスの妻
アーロン・オブライエン	生徒会会計
エリオット・ハワード	生徒会書記
ブリジェット・グレイアム	生徒会書記
ニール・クレイ・メイウッド	生徒会庶務
シリル・アシュリー	生徒会副会長
(フェリクス・アーク・リディル)	第二王子、生徒会長

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[TobiasW]

Chapter notes

We interrupt our scheduled broadcast of Monica bullying to bring you news of the currently unfolding drama in the student council, where a young man has been found guilty of embezzlement.

I was kind of expecting Aaron to be falsely accused… right until he got a bit upset by how thorough their investigation was.

The more this scene unfolds, the clearer it becomes how dumb Aaron is. His family became poor ingrating themselves with this powerful person so their son can be in the best position to be extremely successful in the future - only for that son to completely ruin all of that because he wants a little more spending money. Wow.

…or so I thought, but I guess with the obvious mind manipulation going on towards the end - maybe he was magically convinced to do all that? (Of course, it’s impossible to say to what degree, considering that we only saw such a short slice of his behaviour.)

水色に緑を一滴混ぜたような碧い目が、無慈悲にアーロンを見据える。

男の碧い目に映るのは、この静かで美しい魔術を行使した魔女の姿。

…I guess it’s rather unlikely for the prince to be hanging out somewhere during a dragon attack though.

---

We interrupt our coverage of the student council drama to bring you news of Monica facing her biggest crisis yet: Potentially having to share a room with somebody else!!

Isabelle handled that really well. I’m not sure if “give me the attic” was necessarily Monica’s wish, but it certainly seems like it was her best option (probably even better than rooming with Isabelle) considering the situation, and after hearing that, Isabelle achieved it masterfully. Seems like someone is paying attention to what Monica wants/needs. (And honestly, considering the lack of luxery and attention to her surroundings in her mountain hut, I doubt she’d be unhappy in an attic as long as she can be alone.)

---

Handcuffs and a gag made out of ice? Huh. That’s basically torture, isn’t it?

---

「あのね、人を操ったり記憶を改竄したり、そういう精神干渉系の魔術は全部準禁術扱いなの……許可なく誰かに使ったら、わたし、魔術師資格剝奪されちゃう……」

Surely nothing that couldn’t be fixed with more mind-altering magic!

But yeah, this has been a theme in this chapter. I guess we are getting glimpses at the prince’s (and now Monica’s) adversary.

モニカはふと、今日すれ違った男子生徒アーロン・オブライエンを思い出す。
覚 えてない、知らない、と錯乱状態だった彼は、精神干渉魔術を受けた人間の症状によく似ていた。
（…………まさか、ね）

Oooooh! I kind of assumed this would take longer if it happens at all, considering how incoherent Aaron was.

Oh, I also just noticed: I read the first 2 chapters of the manga years ago, and this is exactly where that stopped. So we’ve reached the point where I don’t know anything about the story anymore. Nice.

PS: Yes, they crammed 3 LN chapters and the prologue into 2 manga chapters.

PPS: If this book would settle on only using first or last names instead of both every single time it would lose 10% of its length

[lifev]

I really liked this chapter!

Reply

@TobiasW

I was kind of expecting Aaron to be falsely accused… right until he got a bit upset by how thorough their investigation was.

Me too!

@TobiasW

…or so I thought, but I guess with the obvious mind manipulation going on towards the end - maybe he was magically convinced to do all that?

Yeah, we know to little at the moment, but to me it feels like he is indeed a spoiled child. And I wonder, since Aaron started to lose his memory exactly during this interrogation (at least it felt like that), doesn’t it mean that the person who casted the spell was there in the room? And how they chanted the spell? Like, murmuring?

@TobiasW

…I guess it’s rather unlikely for the prince to be hanging out somewhere during a dragon attack though.

Nice observation! I won’t be surprised if it is the same person. It would be rather ironic, if the novel on which the undercover story is based is like a prophecy

@TobiasW

Seems like someone is paying attention to what Monica wants/needs.

Totally agree! And it is despite her wanting to actually share the room with Monica! I hope they become friends. It looks like Isabelle can help Monica a lot to navigate the noble society.

---

I think now it is better for Monica to enter the student council. And now there is even a vacancy, he-he. I really like the story at this point and curious about the further development!

[TobiasW]

Replies

@lifev

Yeah, we know to little at the moment, but to me it feels like he is indeed a spoiled child.

Agreed. My theory is that he was slightly unhappy and then taken advantage of by the unseen collaborator, potentially by magical means.

@lifev

And I wonder, since Aaron started to lose his memory exactly during this interrogation (at least it felt like that), doesn’t it mean that the person who casted the spell was there in the room? And how they chanted the spell? Like, murmuring?

Or… silently? *gasp*

But yeah, that’s a good point. Maybe it was done remotely? Or there was some kind of delay/trigger? Or with a tool? We barely know anything about the magic system and its possibilities at this point.

@lifev

And it is despite her wanting to actually share the room with Monica!

I think that was mostly her not being able to reconcile that with her villainess role

I’m sure they will become friends!

[Oerli]

I have to say, so far Felix seems to be an interesting character. We haven’t seen much of him yet, but that bit is the type of character I personally like, so I hope he stays that way.
He seems to be quite capable to handle matters as royalty should I find. So, being still a teenager of course, but he doesn’t seem to be a catastrophic choice as a successor at least.
I find Isabel to be quite different than how she was portrayed in the prologue though. She feels a bit out of character to me.

[TobiasW]

@Oerli

I find Isabel to be quite different than how she was portrayed in the prologue though. She feels a bit out of character to me.

The Isabelle you saw in the prologue was preparing herself for a lot of grief and potentially even dying. She was resolute and brave. She needed to be.

Right now she is not only safe, but she is also spending time with (and helping!) the very saviour who singlehandledly saved her and her province in the prologue in front of her very eyes. She is giddy and playful while still being competent.

I can see both working together.

[Boodil]

This chapter

@TobiasW

Maybe it was done remotely? Or there was some kind of delay/trigger? Or with a tool? We barely know anything about the magic system and its possibilities at this point.

I was also wondering about that. One of the few things we do know is that remote surveillance tools exist, so it doesn’t seem too farfetched to believe in a remote trigger. But it would also be a juicy plot twist if the collaborator turns out to be one of the student council members we’ve already met. Anyway, I like this mystery.

Another thing I like is the subversion of otome character tropes. First Isabelle the villainess, now Cyril the short-fused Ice Prince.

@TobiasW

PPS: If this book would settle on only using first or last names instead of both every single time it would lose 10% of its length

It would lose another percent if it stopped name-dropping Duke Clockford at every opportunity. That guy better turn out to be important.

Edit: Also me when I found out that Monica’s undercover name is Monica Norton.

[simias]

Damn the author is really flexing their kanji. I haven’t had to look up so many unknown characters in a while.

[simias]

３章

I definitely struggled a bit with the vocab this week, tons of lookups!

I enjoyed the very end of the chapter where we finally get to see Monica being herself in a safe space and sharing her thoughts. The coffeepot 形見 thing is sweet and humanizing. Her figuring out the mind control thing also makes her look competent and ahead of everybody else.

@TobiasW

’m not sure if “give me the attic” was necessarily Monica’s wish, but it certainly seems like it was her best option (probably even better than rooming with Isabelle) considering the situation

I think the idea is that it’s isolated enough that she can come and go without being seen by other students, so it does seem like a very good idea.

I don’t fully understand how Monica and Isabel are going to handle the roleplay going forward because Isabel makes it look that she absolutely despises Monica and can’t bear to be in her presence… but also they are seen talking together in public spaces like in the corridor scene? Won’t that be suspicious?

@TobiasW

Handcuffs and a gag made out of ice? Huh. That’s basically torture, isn’t it?

I’ve been complaining about the casual physical and psychological violence every week so far so I thought that I wouldn’t talk about it this week. It still makes me very uncomfortable though. All the people in the council, including the prince, look like garbage people to me as a result, but I don’t think that’s how we’re supposed to read it? It’s just “guys being dudes” or whatever?

[TobiasW]

Replies

@simias

I don’t fully understand how Monica and Isabel are going to handle the roleplay going forward because Isabel makes it look that she absolutely despises Monica and can’t bear to be in her presence… but also they are seen talking together in public spaces like in the corridor scene? Won’t that be suspicious?

If I remember correctly, they explained in the corridor scene that because it’s a day before classes start hardly anybody is in the school. Once they realized someone is coming they stopped talking, so at least they were only seen together.

@simias

All the people in the council, including the prince, look like garbage people to me as a result, but I don’t think that’s how we’re supposed to read it? It’s just “guys being dudes” or whatever?

I think it’s supposed to read somewhere between cold/calculating and cool. Definitely not merciful, but probably not cruel either, since their behaviour is towards someone who has clearly done wrong and doesn’t admit or regret it a single bit.

And of course everything is a bit anime-like exaggerated. I’d be surprised if that changes too much, so you might be uncomfortable throughout the book…

I’m mostly okay with it except for that ice handcuff/gag thing - that would’ve been intensely painful.

(And of course I wish Monica was treated better, but I assume that will actually improve throughout the book.)