I am so glad I read this at home. Probably the most racy volume with oil wrestling taking up most of the volume. It was still hilarious though. Noela seems to be using her tail more. And how can Reiji keep hiring people!? So good.
I remember just before starting this volume that this seemed like the least skeevy "harem" title I've read/watched in a good long while!
...then I got to the "oil wrestling" bit, after LITERALLY EVERY CHARACTER* accuses Reiji of being lewd for making a lubricant... for cleaning Paula's rusted armour. That he absolutely intended for use for cleaning armour and not... whatever everyone else is thinking of.
Like, the first chapter was normal—sweet, even—since it's a follow-up on the prior book exploring Mina's family life (when she had both family and life), and how Mina's mother didn't remotely feel like Mina was a burden, but was in fact sad because she justly felt that Mina deserved a happy life, not a life of permanent illness. Mina is grateful to learn her mother's true feelings, expressing gratitude and promising, yes, she is happy. More of that, please!
Instead, the single openly gay character shows up in a Speedo for the oil wrestling, and Reiji (the gay elf's crush) is railroaded into being his opponent. Because of course he was. Ugh. Just writing this out makes me want to dock another star, but it's like, read the first chapter only (preferably in conjunction with the end of book 8), and that's almost five stars! Such a shame!
(I can't imagine the anime will be much better if it gets enough seasons to show this story. Odds are it will drag the fight out much longer than the advertised "three minutes per match" for the "comedy" value.)
All in all, a regular reminder why I donated the other volumes long ago. Okay read if you're already a fan and know what you're getting into, I suppose.
*even Noela, who is barely old enough to even be aware of what *that kind* of activity entails