Weak arc. Too much wasted time on stupid dates and trippy spirits, and nothing was interesting with the super dog exploration team. Iona is pretty boring. We really didn’t need yet another one in this building harem. There’s already too many and now we have the real Mizushima falling in love? There wasn’t even a villain in this volume with all the time focused on the annoying harem.
Nothing much to tell. No action in this volume 7. The monster tamer, main character is able to add an ancient spirit to his group of "monsters". Haven't yet reached Shiran and Kei's hometown. Light novel isn't really going anywhere. No main plot arc, no secondary plot arcs. It's as if the author wants all of Monster tamer's retinue to become his harem. Lily (mimic slime and first monster) almost completely faded out from this volume.
Overall it was a nice story, but I still went back and forth over giving it a 3 or a 4 star rating as parts pissed me off. The volume essentially boils down to filler, being made up of random stories during the party's trip to their destination in Aker. However, right at then end as Shiran is exposed as a demilich (though I think starving vampire might be more accurate), the story ties together and almost everything makes sense, setting up the next volume.