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[Sword in the Hat]
[Mysterious Trait: The Keeper can draw a silver metal weapon from any hat. Its essence is a magical construct. The material strength, size, and weapon shape are all related to the magic consumed. It disappears naturally after the magic supply stops. If drawn from the 'Sorting Hat,' it is considered to be of the same rank as the 'Sword of Gryffindor.']
[Keeper Asakura Takuma]
[Note: 'Shouldn't it be the Sword in the Stone?' — By King Arthur]
[Note 2: 'Shouldn't it be the Sword in the Sister?' — By My King's Power Ahhh]
[Note 3: 'Slytherin's locket, Hufflepuff's cup, and Ravenclaw's diadem are all Horcruxes. By extension, the remaining Horcruxes must be…' — By an uninformed wizard eating melon seeds]
Asakura, under the puzzled gazes of the others, walked to the shelf, took down the Sorting Hat, and then reached directly into the hat.
Sorting Hat: "Ah~"
Asakura: "…"
He silently chanted.
M1917 American-made Smith & Wesson.
Then he pulled a revolver out of the hat.
"Is this some kind of magic show?" Nukumizu Kazuhiko complained.
"No, a typical magic show is supposed to conjure pigeons from a hat, right?" Nukumizu Kaju questioned.
Asakura ignored the Nukumizu siblings' complaints and inspected the handgun, finding that the cylinder was cast together with the gun body and couldn't be rotated at all. This thing was just a toy with the shape of a handgun.
It seemed that the 'magic construct' of the Sword in the Hat, in principle, was similar to the injection molding process of plastic products; they were all integrally formed and couldn't reproduce overly complex structures.
This greatly disappointed Asakura—his dream of pulling a Gundam out of the hat once he had enough magic was shattered.
He shook his hand, and the unusable revolver in his hand dissipated like a wisp of smoke.
Then Asakura reached into the hat again and pulled out a model of Typhon, the Star of Disaster. After placing it on the shelf along with the Sorting Hat, he no longer paid it any mind.
It wasn't a meaningless waste of magic; Asakura was simply using this method to test the magic consumption required to generate the Sword in the Hat, and to maintain the existence of its creation.
Currently, it seemed that generating the Sword in the Hat required about one unit of magic, and maintaining its existence, when the individual was only the size of a normal Figma, the consumption was almost negligible.
After all, among the four witches present, the magic Asakura obtained just through wireless charging was far greater than what he consumed…
"But then again, although it's a cursed camera, it doesn't really feel like a curse." Yuigahama Yui curiously poked the pink digital camera that was still charging. "Even if you're photographed, can't you just take another picture to change back? Shouldn't a curse be much worse?"
Asakura, who had no intention of continuing to test the weapon performance of the Sword in the Hat here, replied, "That's because this camera has a slight problem."
"Do cursed items also have defects…?"
"Isn't it normal for more precise things to be more prone to problems?" Asakura said indifferently.
"Indeed, devices used to save the world in movies are always the kind that won't work if even one screw is missing." Yuigahama Yui nodded vigorously, but Asakura always felt her example was a bit strange.
"Conversely, if it's an evil robot or mech belonging to the villain, even if it's beaten to a pulp, or even only half-left, it can often still function normally and fight the protagonists until the very last moment," Asagumo Chihaya also joined the discussion.
"After seeing this kind of situation many times, I always feel like the bad guys' stuff is of better quality," Yuigahama Yui agreed repeatedly.
"That's just for entertainment," Gokou, ever the realist, said, "Anyone who seeks realism in a fictional story must have something wrong with their head."
"No, no, there's no way that's something you, Ruri-chan, should be saying, is there?!" Yuigahama Yui, who was most impressed by the girl's usual chuunibyou demeanor, couldn't help but retort.
"So what exactly is the problem with this camera?" Nukumizu Kaju nonchalantly steered the conversation back on track.
After all, besides Asakura, she was the only one who had activated this cursed camera, which made her incredibly curious.
"Although I haven't dealt with cursed items, if I'm not mistaken, it should be a problem with the 'Overdraft' mod."
Asakura deduced this based on the knowledge from the Nameless Magic Book.
"'Overdraft'…?"
Asagumo Chihaya seemed to recall some unpleasant memory, and her expression turned a bit somber.
"Yes, that's pretty much what it means."
Asakura confirmed her guess, but because their conversation was quite obscure, others didn't notice, only assuming Asagumo Chihaya was simply playing a supporting role, allowing Asakura to continue speaking more smoothly.
"In short, even with insufficient magic power, the camera can exert extraordinary power by overdrawing certain things. So, the experience of an ordinary person who obtains this camera would probably be like this:"
"After taking one photo, they would discover its special nature, and then to change the person who turned into another gender back, they would take another photo. At this step, there's still a slim chance of salvation, but if they get carried away, thinking they've mastered supernatural power, and take a few more photos, then they're finished."
"The overdrawn things are often collected in a more direct and simple way, such as life, such as the soul… The manifestation is usually a sudden accident: a car crash, food poisoning, or accidentally dropping an electrical item into the bathtub while bathing. After death, even the soul might be devoured as sustenance for the camera's cursed power."
"It's actually such an evil thing…"
Nukumizu Kazuhiko was terrified after hearing this: "Then Kaju, and Dad, they'll be alright, right?"
"As a defective product, this camera's overdraft mod cannot function normally, so for ordinary people, it's just an ordinary camera. Your father should be an ordinary person, so in a sense, it's like two negatives making a positive."
"However, as a demonic creation, this camera should actually have special effects like addictiveness. Without the overdraft mod, and with all its Beyonder characteristics unable to affect normal people, it's actually more dangerous for those who possess magic power."
"Fortunately, you found this place before Kaju-chan took a second photo. Taking just one photo shouldn't be a problem."
Charging was just for unforeseen circumstances; in fact, Asakura had already wrapped and sealed the camera with the "Scale" just now.
After speaking, Asakura looked at the Nukumizu siblings and made the sound of a snow leopard: "Didn't I just say we were disbanding? Why are you still here?"
"…That's too self-serving."
Nukumizu Kazuhiko sighed helplessly, rubbing his forehead.
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