Secrets of the Silent Witch -another- Part 1: Rise of the Barrier Mage

Secrets of the Silent Witch -another- Light Novel #1

by Matsuri Isora, Nanna Fujimi (Illustrator), Alice Prowse (translator)

After memorizing his magecraft textbook in a single week, Louis is accepted as a scholarship student at Minerva's Mage Training Institution. But surrounded by nobles, the rough and rowdy boy from a poor, remote village is treated as a problem child and feared for the way he trounces his opponents in magic battles. And yet Louis still finds teachers he respects and friends he can rely on as he grows into the man who will become a Sage. Learn all about the notorious deeds of the Barrier Mage's youth in this two-part prequel to Secrets of the Silent Witch.

Genres: Light Novel, Fantasy, Romance, Comedy, Adventure

289 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 8, 2023

About the author

依空まつり

Reviews

[Hayley · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s so damn funny 🤣, Monica was so valid when she was early on scared of Louis. I mean, what Louis did is out of a cartoon and most unhinged tactics—
1) Punching and kicking when they are busy chanting
2) When they don’t allow u to use physical attacks, throw rocks and stones
3) throwing sand at someone’s face then when they are distracted, then use ur handkerchief and dump sand and put it in their mouth
4) Again, if (3) doesn’t work anymore, use a shield-shaped barrier as your attack spell, initiate flight magecraft, then punch them lol
5) Reflective barriers with remote magecraft(probably the most normal one)

I just love 🥰 the characters, Carla is so chill, and we realise Monica’s significance that rivals Louis’. It is just 🤩 how Louis changed so drastically because of Rosalie, and I finally understand why he supports Lionel. Lionel is such a safe option, I still don’t understand the situation with Felix but hopefully we get to that in volume 8(I NEED THE ENGLISH VER). Matsuri Isora mentioned how she feels bad for Nanna Fujimi(illustrator) who made such good designs for the magic staffs and it’s so fr 🤭. I laughed so bad when Monica mentioned she uses her staff as a drying pole 😂😂

Violence is Louis’ thing, he has nothing to lose(except maybe Rosalie). Who knew a boy from the countryside brothel whose goal was to eat marmalade would become someone admirable?

[Nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

The origin of the Barrier Mage from 'Secrets of the Silent Witch' was a delight to read, showing more of Louis's character in a hilarious twist on My Fair Lady. Monica (Sir Not Appearing in this Book) is absolutely justified in her early fear of Louis. He's an absolute menace. Juxtaposed with the wholesome romance, it makes for an endearing read. My only quibble is I could have done with a little less corporal punishment, but it's a fantasy land so it is what it is. 4 'if anything happens to this jam, we riot' out of 5.

[MyDoRyS · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed it except for the stupid self-pitting female character. If they removed her stupid face, the story would have been 5 stars. I despise people who constantly complain about their shortcomings but instead of doing something about it, they keep bathing in self-pity. Like the MC, he just kept moving forward no matter what life threw at him. They ruined the story with romance. Dropping the series. On to my next adventure, Happy Readings!!!

[Mara · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a prelude to the story of Monica, this spin-off sheds light on the Barrier Mage Louse Miller and his struggles during his first brush with magic and dreams of becoming a mage. It's funny and refreshing, given the Louis Miller we've been shown in the original light novel and in the anime.

Read this if you like:
-Foul-mouth kiddos striving to refine themselves
-A (tiny) background of the issues and drama surrounding the royal children
-how Louis met his wife

[Noelle Haycraft]

I read this and while entertaining, I feel like this was made for people who were already fans of the series while I thought that I could just read it no context. That's my mistake.

For that reason, I don't want to rate it, it would feel wrong to rate it as something that I kinda sorta enjoyed when it was partially my fault I didn't enjoy it.

In conlcusion... you should probably read the other light novel series before reading the prequel I guess >.<

Happy Reading!!

[Huihui · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was fun. This side story gave a ampler view on the world building where Monica was somehow unreliable narrator (she was such a cheat that she never did things right like Luis).

You can clearly see the difference with a ‘genius’ like Luis and a monster like Monica.

[Karo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I honestly wasn’t sure if I wanted to read this, but in the end I genuinely enjoyed it. It was fun reading about the Frst Problem Child of Minerva’s and learning a bit more about the first prince. It added depth to the world and made the characters more interesting