“You’d know if you’ve ever actually deployed it, right? It takes a moment before you can even fire an arrow. In other words, it’s poorly suited for reacting to sudden developments.”
“Oh... now that you mention it, you're right...”
Transforming a mere grip into a barrel and then condensing magic power into an arrow—using this folding crossbow required exactly that much preparation time.
In police dramas, there were often scenes where a cop pulled a gun from his coat and aimed it at a criminal to intimidate them. However, since this crossbow required time to become combat-ready, its effectiveness as a deterrent was significantly diminished.
Furthermore, even after taking the time to ready a shot, it only produced a single arrow.
Factoring in the delay needed to generate a second shot once the first was spent, the weapon certainly started to feel impractical.
“In terms of portability, Melt's Sword Ring is far superior... Though her skill plays a huge part, it's still faster to fire and offers more shots.”
“Plus, the power and range are mediocre. The difference is night and day compared to Setsuna's Dragon String Bow, isn't it?”
Yugo felt it might be unfair to compare it to Setsuna's Magic Item, which incorporated an abundance of precious Dragon Material, but the logic was inescapable.
A bow was superior for long-range sniping and raw destructive power. He had to admit that a crossbow designed for convenience naturally lagged behind in those categories.
Certainly, such a weapon would put the user's skill to the test... but for someone like Jinba, a Security Force officer tasked with fighting criminals and Magic Armor Beasts, there seemed little reason to go out of his way to use a tool like this.
Besides, if one truly wanted to strike from a distance, magic was the ultimate solution. Realizing that the common need for firearms was largely absent in this fantasy world, Yugo muttered his lingering doubts with a grimace.
“Why does Jinba-san even have this thing? He said he doesn't use it, so is it just a collector's item...?”
“That's possible, but it could also be that he's planning to give it to someone and wants it tuned up first. This would actually make a decent self-defense item for a civilian.”
“Ah, that makes sense!” Yugo clapped his hands, agreeing with Anhel's assessment.
This type of Magic Item possessed the advantage of requiring little technical mastery. It was similar to Yugo's Blaster; in this world, the ability to guarantee a baseline of combat effectiveness through basic Magic Power Manipulation was a significant merit.
Yugo accepted the idea that Jinba might be gifting the crossbow—which seemed even easier to handle than a Blaster—to someone else. As he pondered this, Anhel muttered to herself, her eyes fixed on the device.
“Well, it's quite a rare piece these days. I'll give it a quick maintenance check as a breather... Hm?”
“Is something the matter, Ann?”
Anhel, who had been talking while retracting the deployed crossbow back into its grip and flipping it over, suddenly narrowed her eyes and went quiet.
Seeing her reaction, Yugo asked what was wrong. Anhel simply pointed to a specific spot as she replied, "Look here. There's something engraved, see?"
“Oh, you're right. Let's see...” Yugo leaned in closer, squinting at the characters etched into the base of the grip.
Since the item was old, the text was somewhat faded and difficult to read. After a moment of concentration, he managed to decipher the words and read them aloud. "Thomas Hodgins...? That's someone's name, right?"
“Looks like it. But who is he? One of Jinba-san's acquaintances?”
Yugo shared a look with Anhel before tilting his head in confusion. He had never heard the name before. While the person was likely connected to the crossbow in some way, their relationship to Jinba remained a mystery.
“I doubt someone like Jinba-san would be involved with anything shady, but I'm definitely curious about who this Thomas guy is.”
“Agreed. Well, whatever. I'll get to work on the maintenance. When you take it back to Jinba-san, ask him about this Thomas person.”
“Sure, I'll do that. Thanks, Ann.”
“Don't sweat it. It's a nice change of pace. Besides, what can I say? I'm a sucker for the guy I've fallen for.”
Leaving that single mystery for later, Yugo left Jinba's Magic Item and his own Blaster with Anhel. He thanked her once more before heading back to the dormitory.
A few days later, having picked up both Magic Items after their maintenance and upgrades, Yugo made his way to the Security Force Station to find Jinba.