Silent Witch - Chinmoku no Majo no Kakushigoto - Ch. 27

[AnotherDuck]

they had alluded that desperation forced her to invent the chant less magic system she's famous for... now we know that is not the case.

It is the case. It's still true that she decided to develop chantless magic rather than learning how to speak in public.

It also makes us question exactly how the sage system works. It looks like the only thing they take into account is being proficient in magic...with little to no regard to anything else.

There are more details about it later on, when it's more relevant to the plot. It's not a series that front-loads the entire setting.

Which breaks the idea of nobody knows her, yet she is so famous for being the only one in a millennium.
With this depiction in the chapter, it doesn't makes sense to me that the prince, being a fanboy as he is, doesn't at least try to find out her appearance.

The old school she went to knows her, or at least a bunch of the students and teachers. However, neither the students nor teachers are likely to travel to her new school. The prince has tried, but at the point when he became a fanboy, she had already shut herself out of society.

 

[PHDInSillyism]

Damn, not her first friend...

 

[Rainy_Bow]

He is gonna be my new punching bag

 

[Sanosaur]

Well aren't you a miserable pretentious piece of shit Bernie

 

[Grishnag]

I hope this guy steps on a lego

 

[KJon]

I'm sure everybody here knows how Daft Punk looks like IRL right?

 

[AscendingCanadian]

We had a reasonably acceptable mage and this Bernie dude just went and made her anxiety worse.

Bro better start walking around like Daft Punk he's gonna get headshot for the year award at this rate

 

[Chaos47]

We knew she went to Minerva since the very beginning, and we also knew there was someone that she had a falling out with (Bernie's "you were always looking down on me" line was even spoken in brief flashback directly). This chapter doesn't really change anything there, merely filling in the blanks. Desperation was still the catalyst for the invention of chantless magic; she just first was given the idea of quick chant magic (which was already a thing) and took it further than anyone before her, being the first to figure out how to eliminate the chant entirely.

It's also well established that high level mages, and especially the sages, tend to be eccentrics/wackos, and that there is indeed a fixed number of seats in the sages. This is evidenced by Monica saying she only got in via the 'waiting list' because another seat happened to open up. Also, yeah, the king does keep tabs on them, given that they are literally under his direct control. No middle men, no command structure; they report directly to the king.

She doesn't report to the king, she reports and takes orders directly form another sage, a person who is supposed to be in the same position as her. It makes is seem more like she is being used rather than her being in a position of power who has agency and makes her own choices.

 

[MeganeR]

Feels like this character didn't need to exist

 

[Jatopian]

damn dude

You could have had a powerful Sage for a friend, maybe even lover, and you fucked it up with your jealousy.

And yeah the system you work under is stupid and maybe it screwed you, but that's not her fault.

what a waste

 

[pir0zhki]

She doesn't report to the king, she reports and takes orders directly form another sage, a person who is supposed to be in the same position as her. It makes is seem more like she is being used rather than her being in a position of power who has agency and makes her own choices.

That's technically true, yes. Louis doesn't actually have authority over her, and is 100% using her, though he is doing so more or less with the king's authority. The king gave him a mission, and the authority to carry it out using whatever means necessary, but it's not entirely clear whether that includes forcing other sages to cooperate. Louis may not even have seniority over her, given that they both were inducted at about the same time, and after she soundly defeated him.

The only reason she isn't being ordered directly by the king is because she's... Well, Monica. I'm pretty sure even the king doesn't know how to deal with her, or even whether she'd be capable of handling this kind of mission. She mostly just gets handed number crunching jobs, after all.

Either way, Louis giving her this mission to protect the prince is, itself, done as part of an order given to Louis directly by the king. Although technically, I don't believe Monica actually has to obey Louis here at all -- but she's too terrified of Louis to resist anyway.

The slaying of the black dragon was another mission Louis compelled (coerced?) her to do, which she also definitely didn't have to, but did anyway, because it's Louis and Louis is scary when he's mad.

All that said, the situation with Casey's punishment was the first time Monica actively showed defiance towards Louis, which was kind of a big deal, and he absolutely noticed.

 

[Chaos47]

That's technically true, yes. Louis doesn't actually have authority over her, and is 100% using her, though he is doing so more or less with the king's authority. Louis may not even have seniority over her, given that they both were inducted at about the same time, and after she soundly defeated him.

The only reason she isn't being ordered directly by the king is because she's... Well, Monica. I'm pretty sure even the king doesn't know how to deal with her. And since Louis is the only one who really does...

Either way, Louis giving her this mission to protect the prince is, itself, done as part of an order given to Louis directly by the king. Although technically, I don't believe Monica actually has to obey Louis here at all -- but she's too terrified of Louis to resist anyway.

This is a perfect example of why the sage system is flawed beyond repair. The author makes things up as he goes and only asks of us, the audience, to not think about the world he is building. There are way too many problems as it is, with the little information we have...it will only grow more complicated and harder to belive as more is revealed.

 

[pir0zhki]

This is a perfect example of why the sage system is flawed beyond repair. The author makes things up as he goes and only asks of us, the audience, to not think about the world he is building. There are way too many problems as it is, with the little information we have...it will only grow more complicated and harder to belive as more is revealed.

Personally, I'd say I think you're just overthinking things a bit. I'm still rather struggling to understand the issue you're having with the system. That said, I'd say it's more just a flaw of the manga format, where it can't really cover everything in the same detail and the readers have to generally just accept that things are gonna be a little fuzzy.

 

[cybeast21]

nope, not literally "at school"
I checked, even in my book, it says "institution", unless I missed it
you can argue that "institution" is school, sure
it still retcon the monologue and the implied that she invented it by herself

the rest is, again, still weak argument
as if the prince doesn't have spies that can ask and draw
even nowadays when we have camera, police still draw with pen and paper
to say that nobody knows her at school, can't remember her face, while being bullied an has a nick name the whole time is a stretch at this point,
her appearance didn't even change, which is going to be a plot point after this in the anime

You would be surprised at how someone could be quickly forgotten when they don't show their face

 

[AuroraKet]

And then this chapter also kinda retcon that by making that she got the idea of this silent casting from someone else.
And also that everyone should know who she is

they know she exists, not exactly who she is, she's kept the hood of her cloak up, and her head down, to avoid excessive attention. So no one outside the sages has seen her face since her selection. She showed herself to that ONE ungrateful little bastard intending to thank him for helping her, only to get pushed away like that, drew her far further back into herself.

 

[kunyka]

That's technically true, yes. Louis doesn't actually have authority over her, and is 100% using her, though he is doing so more or less with the king's authority. The king gave him a mission, and the authority to carry it out using whatever means necessary, but it's not entirely clear whether that includes forcing other sages to cooperate. Louis may not even have seniority over her, given that they both were inducted at about the same time, and after she soundly defeated him.

The only reason she isn't being ordered directly by the king is because she's... Well, Monica. I'm pretty sure even the king doesn't know how to deal with her, or even whether she'd be capable of handling this kind of mission. She mostly just gets handed number crunching jobs, after all.

Either way, Louis giving her this mission to protect the prince is, itself, done as part of an order given to Louis directly by the king. Although technically, I don't believe Monica actually has to obey Louis here at all -- but she's too terrified of Louis to resist anyway.

The slaying of the black dragon was another mission Louis compelled (coerced?) her to do, which she also definitely didn't have to, but did anyway, because it's Louis and Louis is scary when he's mad.

All that said, the situation with Casey's punishment was the first time Monica actively showed defiance towards Louis, which was kind of a big deal, and he absolutely noticed.

STOP PRAISE A DRAGONSLAYER TROEP

 

[taerkitty]

I don't buy that the prince can't get at least an image or drawing of her face if the school is known.

Agreed. The anime is visually (and audibly) great, but the use of fridge logic is rather annoying. Still, it's nice that it's not an isekai.

And of course, thank you as always for the chapter, TL-sama!