Each subsequent volume picks up right from the last I noticed. Considering the cliffhanger vol.8 ended with, I had to just jump into this one and so glad that I did.
The relationship between Chise and Elias is ongoing and with Elias trying to figure out how best to help Chise, and Chise is thinking of making her own bargains with Cartaphilus in hope for more answers to who she is, there's so much that happened in this volume.