Secrets of the Silent Witch

Main characters

• Monica Everett (モニカ・エヴァレット)
• A kind but very timid 16-year-old girl and the youngest of the Seven Sages, the most powerful mages in the Kingdom of Ridill. Due to her social anxiety, she ended up learning Unchanted Magecraft, the only one to do so in the history of the kingdom, during her time at Minerva's Mage Training Institution. She soon joined the Sages and came to be called the "Silent Witch" (沈黙の魔女). Her popularity rose after she single-handedly defeated the Black Dragon of Worgan. Despite this, Monica continues to live as a shut-in at her mountain cabin until Louis Miller the Barrier Mage, a fellow Sage, pays her a visit with a particular mission. Louis forces her to enroll at Serendia Academy's Advanced Course under the false identity of second-year student Monica Norton, a commoner adopted into a noble family, in order to guard the second prince of the kingdom in his stead. Monica is made the Accountant of Serendia Academy's Student Council following a series of events soon after her arrival there. Owing to this and her making some new friends at the school, Monica decides to improve herself and begins working to overcome her social anxiety. She also owns a coffeepot that belonged to her late father and considers it to be her treasure. Thanks to her position as a Sage, Monica is officially recognized as a noble with the special rank "count of magic", which is equivalent in status to that of a normal count. She is unaware of Felix's crush on her, and his affectionate attitude often makes her uncomfortable.
• Nero (ネロ)
• Monica's black cat familiar who is capable of human speech. He is also capable of transforming into a human form, usually assuming the guise of a young man in his twenties. He is an avid reader of fiction and a glutton for meat, especially chicken. His true identity and nature are unknown to all but Monica.
• Louis Miller (ルイス・ミラー)
• A member of the Seven Sages named the Barrier Mage thanks to mastery of Defensive Magecraft. He has a nasty personality but maintains a gentlemanly front, and has stated that he enjoys bullying the strong as opposed to picking on the weak. He receives a covert order from the King of Ridill to guard the second prince, Felix, despite being part of the first prince's faction. He forces Monica to take his place as the prince's bodyguard after the latter thwarts his attempt to keep him under surveillance with a magic item (in reality, he actually wants Monica to get out of her shell & have real friends). He is married to his long-time sweetheart Rosalie, a doctor, and they are expecting their first child, making him a "very happy feller".
• Rynzbelfeid (リィンズベルフィード)
• Nicknamed Ryn, she is a High Wind Spirit contracted to Louis as his familiar. She usually takes the form of a beautiful woman in a maid's dress. Though their relationship is that of master-servant, Ryn takes every chance she gets to badmouth Louis for his somewhat nasty personality. As typical of spirits, she does not understand human emotions and always speaks in a monotone. She is capable of transforming into a small yellow bird. Thanks to her nature as a spirit, she is adept at Flight Magecraft and has excellent hearing. She is usually the main point of contact between her master and Monica while the latter is on her mission at Serendia Academy.
• Isabelle Norton (イザベル・ノートン)
• The daughter of Count Kerbeck, a influential eastern noble, and a first-year student of the Advanced Course at Serendia Academy. She agrees to cooperate in the mission to guard the second prince and acts as Monica's "villainous" niece who abuses her to make the latter's cover story more convincing. In reality, she adores Monica, doting on the Sage and even addressing her as "dear sister" whenever they meet in private. This is thanks to Monica saving the lands of her father and the lives of his subjects when she defeated the Black Dragon of Worgan. She is very adept at collecting information and has a lot of connections in high society. Isabelle and her family are avid fans of villainous characters in fiction, and are always ready to lend their expertise in "villainy" to Monica for her mission.

Serendia Academy Student Council

• Felix Arc Ridill (フェリクス・アーク・リディル)
• The second prince of the Kingdom of Ridill, whom Monica is tasked to protect. He is a third-year student of the Advanced Course and is also the Student Council President. He has a secret familiar named Wildianu, nicknamed Wil, who is a High Water Spirit. He develops a crush on Monica later on, despite not knowing her true reason of enrolling at the academy.
• Cyril Ashley (シリル・アシュリー)
• The Student Council Vice President and a close companion of Prince Felix, Cyril is known for his friendly and perceptive nature. Though his words can sometimes be blunt or harsh, they stem from genuine concern for those he cares about. He quickly befriends Monica Everett, unaware of her secret identity, and later develops quiet feelings for her. His loyalty to Felix and his empathy toward his friends make him a grounding presence within the group.
• Elliott Howard (エリオット・ハワード)
• A third-year student of the Advanced Course and one of the Student Council Secretaries. He is the son of Count Dasvy, and has known Prince Felix since their childhood days. He has a deep-rooted belief in the class system thanks to an event concerning his uncle and a commoner. He believes commoners and nobles should know their place. Due to this, Elliot is very caustic when interacting with Cyril, and later Monica. Despite this, he does not look down on either and is quite honourable when it comes to his duties as a noble. He even eventually warms up to Cyril and Monica, though he has trouble admitting it openly. He is skilled at chess and violin. Elliot is not a morning person and also dislikes rainy days.
• Neil Clay Maywood (ニール・クレイ・メイウッド)
• A second-year student of the Advanced Course and Officer of General Affairs. Besides Monica, he is the only other second-year student in the council. He is mild-mannered and easily approachable. He is also a brilliant negotiator and is part of the Lineage of Negotiators. Though the Maywoods are only barons, they are well-regarded in noble circles thanks to this. He is the fiancé of Claudia Ashley, Cyril's foster sister. While he is polite and affable most of the time, he can become assertive when it concerns his fiancée.
• Bridget Greyham (ブリジット・グレイアム)

Other students

• Lana Colette (ラナ・コレット)
• A second-year student of the Advanced Course and Monica's first friend at the school. She is interested in fashion and always keeps up to date with the trends. She is the daughter of Baron Colette, who is a wealthy merchant. Her classmates call her "nouveau riche" to mock her since her family became nobility thanks to their wealth. Thanks to her mercantile background, she has an eye for trade and is also good at arithmetic. A kind girl at heart, she considers Monica to be her best friend and is always willing to help her out despite being none the wiser of her friend's true identity or her mission at the academy.
• Casey Grove (ケイシー・グローヴ)
• A second-year student of the Advanced Course and a noble from the countryside. She saves Monica from a runaway carriage during an attempted theft at school, and the two quickly grow close after she offers to teach her horse riding. She is also skilled at embroidery. It is later revealed that her friendship with Monica was a front for a plot to assassinate Felix, driven by fear that if he ascended the throne, his backer would provoke a war against a nation that once protected her homeland from dragons. After her arrest, she breaks down upon seeing Monica cry for her, insisting Monica shouldn’t shed tears for a criminal like her and wishing she could have truly taught her horse riding and embroidery, showing she was never malicious at heart. She avoids the death penalty thanks to Monica’s pleas. She also discovers Monica’s true identity but never exposes it.
• Claudia Ashley (クローディア・アシュリー)
• Cyril's foster sister and a second-year student of the Advanced Course. Being the daughter of Marquess Highown, she is part of the Lineage of the Wise, the foremost knowledge keepers in the Kingdom of Ridill. She always has an air of gloominess around her and hates being depended on by others. She takes an interest in Monica after their tea party practical with Lana and Casey. She is also Neil's fiancée and is very possessive of him. She is considered one of Serendia Academy's 'Three Beauties'.

Minerva Academy

• Bernie Jones (バーニー・ジョーンズ)
• A top student at Minerva Academy who hopes to become one of the Seven Sages. He was Monica’s first true friend, saving her from bullies and helping her keep up with classes. When Monica finally became one of the Seven Sages, she rushed to show him, wanting him to be proud and hoping he could rely on her for once instead of the other way around. Instead, he was overwhelmed by jealousy and cast her aside, leaving her with deep emotional trauma. Bernie later reappears during the Chess Tournament and soon figures out who Monica really is. After Lana defends her, he confronts his insecurity and admits to himself that he had always known she was exceptionally talented. When he exposes an assassin posing as a teacher and is nearly killed for it, Monica saves him, and he protects her identity in return.

The Seven Sages

• Mary Harvey (メアリー・ハーベイ)
• (Japanese)
• Known as "The Starseer Witch", a very beautiful and kind woman who can prophesize the future. She is thought to be the oldest of the Seven Sages, and the de facto leader at meetings. She is quite fond of Monica.

Light novel

Written by Matsuri Isora, Secrets of the Silent Witch was initially serialized on the user-generated novel publishing website Shōsetsuka ni Narō from February 20 to October 3, 2020.[10] It was later acquired by Fujimi Shobo who began releasing the series with illustrations by Nanna Fujimi under their Kadokawa Books imprint on June 10, 2021. Eleven volumes and two short story volumes have been released as of January 2026. On January 28, 2022, Yen Press announced that they licensed the series for English publication.[11]

A two-volume prequel light novel series, titled Silent Witch -another- Rising of the Barrier Mage, was published under the same imprint from December 8, 2023, to April 10, 2024.[12] On December 16, 2024, Yen Press announced that they also licensed the prequel for English publication.[13]

Volumes

-another- Rising of the Barrier Mage

Manga

A manga adaptation illustrated by Tobi Tana began serialization on Enterbrain's B's Log Comic manga website on July 5, 2021.[43] The manga's chapters have been compiled into six volumes as of September 2025. On January 13, 2023, Yen Press announced that they also licensed the manga for English publication.[44]

A manga adaptation of the prequel novels, illustrated by Azu Azuko, began serialization on Kadokawa Corporation's KadoComi website on January 9, 2025.[45] The prequel manga's chapters have been compiled into a single volume as of September 2025.

Volumes

-another- Rising of the Barrier Mage

Anime

An anime adaptation was announced at the Aniplex × Kadokawa Anime Matsuri livestream event on August 2, 2024,[58] which was later confirmed to be a television series produced by Studio Gokumi and directed by Yasuo Iwamoto, with Takaomi Kanasaki serving as chief director and handling series composition and episode screenplays, Cona Nitanda designing the characters, and Cygames and Rina Tayama composing the music.[59] The series aired from July 5 to October 5, 2025, on Tokyo MX and other networks.[60] The opening theme song is "Feel", while the ending theme song is "mild days", both performed by Hitsujibungaku.[61] Crunchyroll is streaming the series.[62] Plus Media Networks Asia licensed the series in Southeast Asia and broadcasts it on Aniplus Asia.[63]

Episodes