This has to be the fastest read in the series so far. This volume is focused on the party finding the house of the lunatic mage. (I realize that the English localization has dubbed them Sissel and gendered them masc, but to my understanding, their actual name is Thistle, and I see a lot of people referring to them with they/them pronouns, so I will be referring to them with the latter.)

Everything going on is somewhat chaotic and still for the most part, but we have definitely come up against two very interesting plot points in this volume. One of them deals with Thistle's motivations, fears, and trauma, and it helps explain even more behind why they're acting as they are. At this point in time, I think they might actually take the spot as my favorite character overall in this series. The second plot point here refers back to Marcille's nightmare and her fear of losing everyone she loves to death, and to the fact that the main monsters of each dungeon are actually demons who seek to prey upon the individuals who would become dungeon lords. I'm enjoying the smaller ways in which the art reminds us of this; while the winged lion professes a desire to have Laios and co. help the people of the Golden Country, his interactions with Marcille and the way his eyes change when he hears of her desire remind us that he is a demon like Kabru and Mithrun were discussing. Thistle later confronts the lion and also calls out Marcille (revealing she's a half-elf,) telling us that Marcille is the exact sort of person the winged lion likes to target to take advantage of.

The entire thing has left me very curious about how the series is ultimately going to tackle the multi-faceted conflict it's set up, and I'm eager to see where it goes, especially since this volume ends on a cliffhanger with the party in dire straits.