I'm not sure if I still need to add a spoiler warning since your blog isn't spoiler-free, but I'll do it anyway, just to be on the safe side.
My, my... so fierce. Well, your reaction was to be expected. That's why I left you a nice little surprise. I'd check on your dear apprentices if I were you, or they might get hurt rather badly. Too bad healing magic is forbidden, isn't it?
I do wish Olruggio the Torch were here. He might have reacted differently—or at the very least, he would have listened to what that sigil actually does. But then again, you would have erased his memory, wouldn't you? Don't you feel guilty? Don't you wish to put an end to this madness once and for all?
Well, either way, I must be on my way. I do hope we meet again. Take care.
What did you do to my apprentices. I told you to keep your filthy hands off of them. If Olly were here he would've reacted exactly the same. I don't need your sigil, and I don't need your healing magic.
Of course I would have to erase his memory and of course I feel guilty every single time...but it's not like I have much choice, and I refuse to mingle with forbidden magic. I will find a way to end this without your filthy magic.
I hope I never have the misfortune of seeing you again.
Well, if it isn't Oifrey the Witch. I know about your little secret problem, and I could teach you a sigil that might help. Knowing you, I'm sure you'll refuse my offer. But I suspect Iguin's Child of Hope might not.
So, what will you do? Seize the opportunity yourself and leave everything—and everyone—behind? Or let your student make the sacrifice instead? She seems desperate enough to save someone that she might even wear a brimmed hat. And I think it would suit her just beautifully.
Excuse me? I would very much appreciate if you leave Coco alone. I do not have any "secret" and if I did I would never want the help of a brimmed hat. You disgust me. I will not be accepting your "help", and nor will Coco. She may be desperate to save those she cares for but she is not stupid. She is very capable of doing things without your "assistance". Keep your filthy hands off of her.
Whatever happens to Qifrey, I just want him to tell Olruggio how he feels and kiss him. Please. I just want him to be happy... or, at the very least, let them have one bittersweet Orufrey moment.
I can't see Qifrey content the same way anymore after Chapter 90+.
I absolutely love Witch Hat Atelier, but I never expected it to break my heart like this. I've cried so much.
I have a sinking feeling about Qifrey and where his story is headed.
MASSIVE spoilers and maybe slightly long-winded theorizing below the cut.
I believe quite certainly that Qifrey intends to reveal the complete truth to Olruggio very soon, and that while he seems to be accepting his fate, he is trying to maintain as much control over the terms of his inevitable end as possible.
Following the events of Chapter 88, after he reveals his nature as a Silverwood host to Coco, he asks to postpone his complete confession, wishing to be able to reveal the truth elsewhere, in a peaceful place beneath a wide open sky where his roots would have room to comfortably grow. He has described the land around the atelier in this way many times before.
Later, when the entire group is finally reunited and Olruggio tells Qifrey they’re going home. Qifrey’s expression looks pained for a moment, before he answers, “Alright then. Let's go home. Our atelier awaits."
His verbal recognition of the atelier as his home is a rather glaring signal that he is beginning to accept his imminent end and has chosen the atelier as his ideal final resting place. This is hinted at early on in a sequence during which Beldaruit spoke to Riliphin of the Silverwoods, and implied that he knew of Qifrey’s condition as he privately worried that his beginning to think of the atelier as his home could be dangerous for him.
At a point during their journey home, we return to the group to find the girls all asleep, while Qifrey has distanced himself from the rest, sitting on the bank of a lake to write in his book. Olruggio joins him and points out how far he’s sitting from the fire.
I think this was probably intentional in an effort to be closer to the lake to keep himself anxious, since it is my personal theory that here, Qifrey is actually writing a letter to Olruggio in which he tells him the entire truth, and that the narration through the next arc is comprised of excerpts from that letter. The lake is intended to be a failsafe of sorts, since of course, we know that vocalizing the truth to Olly is Qifrey’s greatest comfort trigger, while water touching his skin is his biggest anxiety trigger. Given this, it makes sense for him to choose this particular spot to begin to release the truth so he has a means of keeping the Silverwood at bay readily available should he need it, which he evidently does later on.
In the segments that follow, Qifrey reminisces on how he and Olruggio crossed paths at the Great Hall and became close.
Through the end of chapter 91, we watch the story unfold neutrally as though it is happening in real time, with no narration, but in chapter 92, something shifts. As soon as Qifrey’s recount reaches the part of the story that would have been lost to Olruggio’s memory, a past-tense narrator voice begins to cut in, and suddenly, it becomes clear this story is being told to someone, not merely recalled, and not just to anyone, but to Olruggio by Qifrey. This is the strongest evidence that what we’re reading is actually the contents of a letter to Olruggio.
All of this indicates to me that Qifrey is not just reminiscing, but is actively preparing for the end. The telling of the story, the physical and emotional distance Qifrey has put between himself and the others, and his now repeated framing of the atelier as both home and the kind of place where he would want to be forever, are all supportive of that.
As far as we know, Qifrey hasn’t been the one to initiate a full confession since they were kids at the Tower of Tomes. Spilling his guts in a letter written under duress is probably a new tactic, and it’s a smart one, as it ensures Qifrey can get the complete truth out on his terms without the usual interruption from the Silvertree.
We also know that Qifrey would rather die than have his transformation hurt the people he loves, so at this point, I wouldn't put it past him to leave the letter at home where the others will find it before going off to trigger his transformation alone, or waiting until the others are gone to trigger it.
This is what has me especially worried for him now, because Olruggio and the girls just left the atelier, leaving Qifrey there by himself. Maybe I'm projecting (probably), but the thought of Qifrey leaving a note and then going off to essentially kill himself makes my stomach hurt. Painfully though, it does feel in character, especially now that he's vocalized his trust in his students, particularly Coco, to carry on his mission. Olruggio, please go home now, your husband is an active danger to himself!!
Fortunately, Hiehart and Jujy pay the atelier a visit, but even upon greeting them, he does already seem on edge and uncharacteristically down.
Hopefully, whatever Hiehart has to say will get Qifrey out of his head and convince him to keep living for a little while longer. I'm guessing he's going to ask Qifrey to take on Jujy as his apprentice. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
Anyways. To conclude, here is Qifrey’s directed narration/possible excerpts from a letter to Olruggio compiled:
Every day I turned my gaze away from the encroaching dread, and for as long as I was in the dark, I was happy. I greeted each morning with excitement, for with the rise of the sun came another adventure with you. I thought if I could retrieve the past I lost, my joy would be as genuine as yours, and perhaps I would have a real chance to share in your happiness. A child can dream. Like ordinary boys, we would share our visions of tomorrow with each other and we would laugh at how far away it all seemed.
Little did I know that felicity came with forgetting. It was a bliss born of ignorance. If I knew what I was… If I knew that I was never meant to be saved, I would've stayed far away from you, the sky’s kindest, most radiant star.
I once read an old poem that likened stars to boats sailing through the sky. But as far as I know, boats don’t twinkle like stars. The light doesn’t come from the vessel itself, but its guiding torch. Like your pyreball, it burns at the bow. A beacon of light in the dark.
After that fateful day, you would uncover my secret again and again. Each time you would respond with disbelief. Then your face would twist and turn in anguish. And after biting back a few words, you would show me grace, and comfort me and forgive me for lying to you. And then, without fail, the Silverwood’s roots would grow. You would offer me the same path back every time, and I would take it, adding to my mess of sins.
I had often considered leaving your side. I thought that perhaps traveling alone would save me from taking away your memories. But even that minute solace was enough for the Silverwood. I knew then that distance would do nothing but break my promise to you.
So I had another thought: A master never wants for worry with apprentices to look after. The selfishness behind my reason for taking on pupils made me ill, but they’d never have to know that. So I decided to put every fiber of my being toward becoming a good educator. If only I had known then what a joy it truly is to watch your students grow with each passing day.
It’s somewhat rare for a Silverwood to take root in people. Unlike animals, they tend to hold onto too much anxiety. Which is why the tree planted in Custus that gave him his legs raises some questions. My right eye was the only one to sprout during the experiments. It must have some connection to the Silverwood in Custas. For so long, I thought I was the only host, but now I'm not so sure. There could be more victims out there than I ever imagined.
Did I make the right choice?
Would it have been better to throw everything aside and hunt down the brimmed caps?
Doubts like these turn in my head, but the moment I see my atelier, I remember.
This is where my heart is. This is where I want to be.
I wanted to add to the thematic reasoning behind this theory.
spoilers for ch96 ahead
First holy shit, seeing the monologue written out, it really does look like a "deadman's switch" for the case of his death.
ch95 and ch96 start off our winter arc, and both of them offer a foreboding message about the circle of life and the necessity of death in it.
With the arc starting off with death very much in our face, it's very likely that there will be at least one major character death. These specific mentions of the circle of life also call my attention to the only other time it has been mentioned previously in the manga:
I believe by the end of the series, Qifrey will be "cured" in some way; but as of now, he seems to be the most likely person to "feed the Earth's soil".
I don't think, however, that he will seek out to die as of now. Most likely, there will be something that triggers it at the end of the climax of the arc or during the resolution. A tree that will bloom in the spring.
This chapter also includes olruggio sharing with tetia his values.
The people that "pass" are essentially the people that he couldn't save. He has accepted that this guilt for others is a part of him that will not go away. I hope he is prepared for another winter where he will not be able to save everyone with his magic.
also small detail i noticed but in ch96, the dragon is lying dead near a nest of dragon eggs, which we could assume are the dragon's. if we look at it in that perspective, the dragon could have died protecting the eggs, which we can carry over as possibly a metaphor for qifrey dying to protect his kids
Lol I'm a little late but I wanted to try my hand at it anyways. This started as just the Backless Olly but then it got away from me...
Outfit is loosely based on this design
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