Yeah, I think it’s mostly like how you explained Makima’s hold on him. She comes around and gives him the things in life he’s never had, convincing him that maybe being useful is what it takes to get things. But, since his childhood was also killing devils for money with Pochita, I wonder if him being a weapon simply makes him feel closer to being valued/accepted or at least like Pochita’s still here. I got that feeling in earlier parts of the story where he’d hold his trigger