Chapter 146: I’ve Got Presents For You

Right now, everyone was feeling relieved. Hopeful.

Before, they thought it was impossible for them to shoot properly.

They thought they would never be able to improve themselves.

That they would be left behind by the males because of their inability to hold the bow for long enough to actually aim and shoot.

But now Luna had proven that wrong.

For some reason, the mysterious bow that Luca had brought out had allowed her to actually aim the arrow and stay like that for so long.

To the extent that even Luna, who was known for her multiple accidental assassination attempts was able to hit a perfect shot.

So they were all quite eager and excited for what was next.

But that was when one elf, who had been looking around for Luca, suddenly found him.

And when she noticed what he was doing, she absolutely freaked out.

“NO, NO, HERO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING? WHAT ARE YOU DOING RIGHT NOW?!”

Everyone else was confused. They turned their heads toward where she was looking.

And even they were baffled and shocked beyond belief when they saw what he was doing.

Right in front of their eyes, Luca had somehow built a small bonfire.

Flames crackled and danced, and he was actually hovering the compound bow right over it like he was about to throw it in!

The elves started shouting.

“NO! NO! DON’T DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT!”

“Why are you trying to throw it in?!”

“DON’T THROW THE BOW!”

“Please stop! Why are you doing something like this, Hero?!”

They all shouted at him to stop, pleading with him not to do what he was doing.

But Luca just looked back at them, eyebrow raised.

“Why should I?”

The shouting stuttered to a halt.

He continued, his voice dripping with innocence.

“Aren’t you the ones who said this bow is ugly? That it’s too short? That it has too many strings?”

“Every single one of you gave nothing but complaints.”

He held the bow closer to the fire. The elves gasped.

“And right now, I’m doing exactly what you want. I’m throwing it away. Such a bow shouldn’t exist, right?” He shrugged. “So I’m going to throw it in the fire and destroy it.”

He moved his hand closer to the flames.

Another round of desperate shouts erupted.

“NO! NO! WE’RE SORRY!”

“We won’t say such things again!”

“We didn’t appreciate it before, but now we know how amazing that bow is!”

Even Lulu joined in, waving her arms frantically.

“Yeah! Look, the bow is absolutely beautiful! It’s stunning! I-It’s even more beautiful than me and that’s tell a lot, so please don’t throw it in the fire!”

“I beg you!”

Everyone looked at him with hopeful eyes, like he was about to throw their own child into the flames.

Luca stared at them for a long moment.

Then he sighed dramatically and kicked the fire apart, scattering the burning wood in all directions.

The elves collectively breathed a sigh of relief.

But then he pointed at the bow and said,

“I myself don’t care about all the rude remarks you made earlier. But of course, the bow itself will not accept your apologies so easily.”

They blinked in confusion.

“That’s right.” He continued gravely. “You also have to apologize to it directly. After all, I’m sure you believe that bows themselves have spirits, yes?”

“So, if you shoot a bow like this after insulting it so much, it definitely won’t shoot right. It’ll take revenge on you.”

“So you’d better apologize right now.”

The elves didn’t hesitate for a second.

They immediately bowed toward the bow in Luca’s hands.

“We’re sorry, mighty bow!”

“We recognize your greatness now!”

“We called you ugly and we were wrong!”

“We deeply and sincerely apologize!”

One particularly enthusiastic elf added,

“Please don’t take offense! We’re simply ignorant elves who didn’t know how amazing you could be! Please accept our apologies!”

“We should build a shrine for you!”

Luca blinked at that last suggestion, slightly taken aback.

But he recovered quickly, nodding sagely.

“Hmm…yes, I can feel it. The bow is satisfied. It says your apologies are accepted.”

The elves relaxed again, looking pleased that they had made peace with the bow’s spirit.

“Now then.” Luca said, holding up the compound bow properly. “Since you’ve all apologized, I think I can finally tell you what this bow actually is.”

All the elves immediately perked up, leaning forward with eager attention.

“This is called a Compound Bow.” Luca began. “And like I said before, it’s the most advanced type of bow that exists in my world.”

He turned it over in his hands.

“Not only is it incredibly light to the extent that you can carry it and not even notice it’s on your body—but it’s also really small as well.”

He chuckled at their confused expressions.

“Of course, you might think a small bow is a bad thing. But not at all.”

He pointed at the compact limbs.

“When it’s small, you can transport it easily. You can take it anywhere you want.”

“Even when you’re shooting in trees with branches all around, you don’t have to worry about the bow hitting something and causing difficulties.”

“Because of its tiny size, you can carry and shoot it anywhere.”

Realization appeared on their faces.

“Yeah…that makes sense.”

“Being light and small would make it much easier to shoot.”

“You could even take it into enemy lines without much difficulty!”

“You could fold it into a case, a box, and take it anywhere!”

Luca nodded, pleased they were appreciating the bow now.

“And not only that. This bow doesn’t just have a single sight—it also has a magnifying sight built into the string.”

He pointed at the small peep sight woven into the bowstring.

“This little hole right here allows you to magnify the target. Even if the target is quite far away, you’ll be able to see through it and zoom in on it.”

“And the sights themselves glow in the dark, so even in the dark, you can accurately find your target.”

Another round of praise went around.

“That’s so useful!”

“How amazing!”

“We could do raids at night too!”

Luca smiled and held up the bow, pointing at the pulley system.

“But most of all, the reason this bow is so amazing is this mechanism right here.”

He traced the cables and cams with his finger.

“The moment you pull halfway through the draw, the bow just…gives way. It loses all tension. And while you’re holding it at full draw, you feel almost nothing. The bow holds the weight for you.”

Gasps of disbelief.

“No way, that’s impossible!”

“How can that be true?”

Luca shook his head firmly.

“It most definitely is true. And that’s exactly how Luna herself was able to hold that bow for so long.”

Luna stepped forward, nodding vigorously.

“What Luca’s saying is true. While I was holding it, I didn’t feel any pressure at all. I could hold the bow however I wanted, for as long as I wanted. That’s why I could take my time to aim properly.”

Fascination rippled through the crowd.

Luca continued. “Yep. And this is all due to this system over here.”

He pointed at the the wheel-like mechanisms at the tips of the limbs.

“These are called cams. When you draw the bow, the cams rotate. At first, the draw weight increases—that’s the hard part you feel at the beginning.

“But as the cams turn, they reach a point called ’let-off.’”

“Suddenly, the amount of force you need to hold the string drops dramatically. In this bow, it drops by about eighty percent.”

He could see they didn’t fully understand, so he simplified.

“That means if you need forty pounds of force to draw the bow back, you only need about eight pounds of force to hold it at full draw.”

“You’re holding back forty pounds of energy with only eight pounds of effort.”

“That’s why you can aim for so long without shaking, without struggling.”

The elves looked at each other, trying to process this.

“So…the bow does the work for you?”

“Exactly.” Luca grinned. “This is the solution to all of your problems. With this, you won’t have any struggle at all. You will most definitely surpass the males when it comes to archery.”

He looked across the gathered females.

“And more than that, it won’t be long before every single one of you shoots bullseyes just like Luna did.”

Looks of surprise and hope appeared in their eyes.

For the elves, archery was their blood, their lifeline, their heritage.

For so long, they had lost it.

But to see that finally they were getting hope. They were finally able to shoot just like elves should be able to shoot.

They were so happy. So giddy with excitement.

But just as they were all celebrating—

“Hold on, Luca. I think we have a problem.”

A worried, concerned voice cut through the excitement.

Everyone turned and it was actually Leona, who stepped forward with a concerned look on her face.

“This bow you brought from your other world is truly amazing. And if everyone has one, they can definitely shoot better. But…”

She frowned deeply.

“The problem is, how will everyone have such a bow?”

The excitement faltered, as Leona continued, gesturing at the recurve bow on the table.

“The recurve bow itself was complicated to look at—made from different metal, with strange curves.”

“But still, I’m pretty sure we could find some craftsmen to make it. Even with wood, we could probably structure a bow to resemble a weaker version.”

But then she looked at the compound bow in Luca’s hands, her expression troubled.

“But this compound bow, on the other hand…”

She pointed at all the intricate designs.

“…I don’t think the village can make such a bow.”

The elves froze, shocked.

Leona went on.

“After all, not only is the design very intricate, but it has many moving parts that all seem very sensitive and very fragile. Even if we were to try to make such a bow completely out of wood, I don’t think the parts would be able to handle the tension.”

She shook her head with a complicated look in her eyes.

“This seems like something that could only be made in the very same material that the bow has. I doubt we can make such a bow with wood or something else.”

Her voice grew quieter.

“So if that’s the case, how are we going to distribute so many bows to all the others? Won’t that be a big problem?”

Hearing this, a look of realization appeared on everyone’s face.

“Yeah…that makes total sense.”

“I didn’t even think about that.”

“So only one person gets to have the bow?”

“Only one of us can shoot like Luna did?”

Immediately, looks of worry and concern spread everywhere.

Everyone wondered what they were going to do.

Who was going to get the bow?

Who was going to be given the responsibility of wielding such a legendary weapon?

At first, they were all considerate of each other, thinking of suggesting someone else to have the bow, pushing it to others, making them hold it.

But out of nowhere—

“I want the bow! This bow is definitely mine!”

Lulu’s voice rang out and she looked at the crowd with a determined look on her face as she proclaimed,

“The moment I saw the bow, I heard it calling out to me. It said ’Lulu, take me! Lulu wield me!.’”

“So that’s why I think it’s destined for me and why the bow will be mine!”

But the moment she said that, everyone was immediately offended and all the restraint they had about being considerate and giving the bow to others went right out the window.

“Why should you have it, Lulu?!”

“Exactly! And you know what—I heard the bow calling out to me as well!”

“I want it too!”

“Lulu, you said it was ugly! I always said it was beautiful, so I should have it!”

“No, me!”

“I WANT IT!”

Everyone started fighting, arguing about who deserved the bow more, whose hands it would be most worthy in.

It looked like a civil war was about to break out—all over a single bow.

After all, everyone wanted to shoot the way Luna had just shot.

Someone even suggested a competition to see who could shoot best with the bow, the winner getting to keep it permanently.

But that was when Luca’s voice cut through the chaos—

“Ladies! Calm your asses down!”

They all turned to look at him and he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Please, don’t turn the village into a warzone just because of one bow. I can handle actual wars, but cat fights are something that even I avoid.”

He then stepped forward, gesturing at the compound bow.

“What Leona said is true. These bows are difficult to make just with wood. Even if you tried, the stress would break the wood apart immediately. You need special materials to make a compound bow properly.”

The elves faces fell even further.

“Now, I’m not saying it’s impossible.” Luca continued. “I’m pretty sure if you find some skilled dwarven craftsmen and use special materials that exist in this world, you could eventually make them.”

“But for right now, in this situation? I don’t think anyone in this village has the craftsmanship needed. Especially after seeing how horribly you made even the basic longbows.”

He shot them a teasing look.

“So no, I really don’t think you guys making compound bows yourselves is feasible.”

The disappointment was palpable.

They had been given hope, only to have it taken away the next second.

And seeing their faces, Luca suddenly let out a big smile before saying,

“But hold up. Just because you can’t make the bows doesn’t mean you won’t be able to get them.”

Confused looks all around.

Luna opened her mouth to ask.

“What do you mean, Luca? What are you trying to—”

But before she could finish, Luca simply waved his hand.

A massive portal shimmered into existence behind him.

And then, to everyone’s absolute surprise, things started coming out.

Cases. Bunch after bunch after bunch of thick, sturdy suitcases made of some strange material they’d never seen before.

They kept coming and coming, stacking up behind Luca in neat rows.

One case. Ten cases. Fifty cases.

By the time the portal closed, there were at least a hundred cases stacked behind him, forming an entire wall of mysterious containers.

The elves stared in absolute fascination.

Luna couldn’t help but say. “Wait, Luca—what are those? Why are there so many of them?”

Her mind raced. She looked from the cases to the compound bow in Luca’s hand, then back to the cases.

Understanding began to dawn, but it was too impossible, too incredible to actually believe.

“Don’t tell me those are—”

But before she could finish her thought, Luca gestured toward the stacked containers with a flourish.

“Rather then me telling you guys, why don’t you go ahead on and find out for yourself.”

He stepped away from the stacks, sweeping his arm forward in an inviting gesture.

“Check out for yourselves what exactly are the goodies inside these boxes like it’s Christmas morning.”

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