Silent Witch - Monica is just way too cute. Can I take her home?

Silent Witch (サイレント・ウィッチ 沈黙の魔女の隠しごと) is a light novel series written by Matsuri Isora and illustrated by Nanna Fujimi. It started publishing in 2021 and currently has 12 volumes (10 main and 2 side). I started reading this back when it ranked high on the Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi! list, and it honestly surprised me. I wasn't expecting to be this interested in a series primarily targeted at a female demographic.

The story follows the life of Monica Everett, a shy and delicate girl who prefers living in isolation. However, she is actually one of the Seven Sages of the Kingdom of Ridill due to her ability to cast magic without actually doing any type of chanting. Because of this, they call her the "Silent Witch", and she is known as an extremely powerful magician.

The real reason why she developed this skill was mainly because of her crippling social anxiety, which makes her unable to speak at all in public. But I guess that is one way to innovate, right? At the beginning of the series, she is required to enroll in a school (Serendia Academy) to investigate a situation and protect her target as an agent for the Kingdom while hiding her identity.

There she will find friends, foes, and maybe even a small glimpse of a social life. Of course, lots of people seem to have taken an interest in the academy due to the presence of one of the Princes of the Kingdom. The risk of attacks is high, so Monica will have to fend those off too.

There is a huge list of characters that appear in this story, but the most important are:

Monica Everett

The protagonist of the story. She is a kind and very timid 16-year-old girl with a very petite figure. She infiltrates the academy easily because no one would ever think such a small and cute girl could be a threat to anyone. She is, however, extremely powerful and is seen defeating terrible dragons like it's nothing.

Nero

Monica's black cat familiar. He can switch at will between cat and human form and is shown to be quite an avid reader of fiction. He has some dark secret and his identity is unknown as of now, but he is likely some higher-level entity considering the events so far.

Louis Miller

Another member of the Seven Sages known as the "Barrier Mage" for his incredible ability in defensive magecraft. He is extremely crafty and is the cause of Monica being dragged into this mission. He seems to be interested in making Monica become less of a shut-in.

Felix Arc Ridill

The Second Prince of the Kingdom of Ridill and the target that Monica is asked to protect. He is prohibited from using or reading about magic and has a very limited life due to his position. There are people who want to "raise him up" as the future King, causing conflict with the First Prince.

Isabelle Norton

She is the daughter of an influential Count and a first-year student in the academy. She is the only other person who knows Monica's identity. She tries her best to help her get accustomed to the new environment and works to help her gather information in various events. She fakes being abusive toward Monica to make the cover story more convincing to people in the academy.

Lana Colette

A second-year student and Monica's first friend at school. She is very interested in fashion and is a "new noble" due to her being the daughter of a wealthy merchant who only became a Baron due to his extensive money. She is very supportive of Monica and is willing to help her even without knowing her real purpose.

The story can be seen as a fantasy with adventure elements, but at its heart, it is clearly a reverse harem story with Monica at the center and various guys waltzing around her (be it the Prince or one of the various other nobles). I was skeptical about it exactly for this nature, as it indicated the series was written to target female readers more.

While this is true, the series still offers lots of interesting content that will please pretty much everyone. The intrigue and political elements are well-written, and the action scenes (even if a bit rare) are well-designed to show off Monica's strong points. Plus, Monica is really, really adorable in all her scenes!

I have only read 5 volumes (4 main and 1 side) so far, so I am curious to continue and see where the story will lead Monica. Will she finally manage to improve her social skills?