ITK C404: Orkubo and His Moving Castle

Hi.
It’s me.

Let’s go back in time when we were about to depart from Mr. Dalkish’s territory.

---

Making Orkubo’s Castle move was one of the ideas that came up at the meeting.
We thought adding that feature would excite the spectators.

Beyond that, there was nothing special.
The original idea was to challenge the participants to do something with the castle, but there is really nothing more to it.

People who see it will be shocked, that’s it.
But it still sounded like a fun idea, so we went with the plan.

Isn’t that how hobbies work?

Orkra, Orkuma, Orkninushi, and Orktober worked on the “new” attractions while we were holding the expo and successfully completed Orkubo’s Moving Castle.

“Then again, it’s only the castle tower that’s moving.”
“Moving the entire castle would’ve been indeed too much…”

What humble orcs.

“I think it’s still pretty incredible nonetheless!”

For real.
Let me explain that the keep is that thing resplendently towering in the middle of the castle.
To give a real-life example, it’s the same infrastructure as the Shachihoko on top of Nagoya Castle.

It serves as the castle’s symbol, but that is why people would be surprised if it started moving!
And so, we tried to make ours move.

“…You want to mobilize that and bring it all the way to the battlefield?” asks Mr. Dalkish, perplexed after hearing the plan.

“Everyone will be astonished, won’t they?”
“That they will, but…”

There’s also a side of war where you win by intimidating and overwhelming people.
Nothing is more effective in that respect than Orkubo’s Moving Castle (tower only)!

“Please don’t worry! Our newly developed mobile castle is equipped with a variety of other amenities! It will surely be useful in the battle!”
“Ohh?”

Thus, Orkubo’s Castle was immediately sent to the battlefield.

“En garde!”

With my yell, the castle is off the ground and moving at a reasonable speed.

“T-The castle is really moving…!”

Mr. Dalkish’s jaw drops open in astonishment, his eyeballs nearly popping out of their sockets.

“This is incredible, Lord Saint! Was your power always this advanced?!”
“Haha, not really.”
“I’ve heard that you have a ship that can move on its own! Surely, this castle is also powered by a trick that surpasses human knowledge, isn’t it?”

You have heard about the magic steamship?
However, Orkubo’s Moving Castle is powered by a different source.
And that is…

“The orcs are carrying it.”
“Whaaaaaaaaaaat?!”

At the bottom of the keep, all the orcs are carrying the castle like a portable shrine in festivals.

In other words, Orkubo’s Moving Castle is man-powered!

“It’s that primitive?!”
“We had no other option, so…”

Adding wheels or a continuous track?
It’d take too much time and effort to develop a driving engine and put it to practical use.

Therefore, we decided to rely on manpower!
Or maybe orc power, to be exact, since orcs carry it?

“But is this safe? Orcs as they may be, carrying a huge part of a castle is still quite the arduous task…”

His concern is well justified.
I, too, was a little worried about whether the orcs would be able to maintain their strength until the destination battlefield, said to be in a neighboring territory.
I look at the bottom of the castle to make sure.
The orcs…

“Heave-ho, heave-ho!”
“It’s light.”
“Lighter than I thought it would be.”
“Hey, don’t you think it’s unnecessary if all of us carry this? Only half of us should be enough.”
“You mean it’d be easier if we took turns? You’re smart!”

They look like they’re doing better than I had expected.
Our orcs sure are special in ways more than one. They can lift an entire castle tower with ease.

“Let’s raid the battlefield like this!”
“We’re going to shock them with how awesome our shrine is!”
“Heave-ho! Heave-ho!”

When did this become a portable shrine for Kenka Matsuri?
Anyway, we headed straight for the battlefield.

Our strong orcs made it to the destination with plenty of leeway while carrying the castle…

---

When we got to the battlefield, our castle was the center of attention from enemies and allies alike.

“Look, Mr. Dalkish! We stand out the most on the battlefield!”
“That I can see, but…!”

He wondered if that was a good or bad thing.

Anyway, the war started.
After all was said and done, our opponent refused to surrender, so we proceeded to Plan B.

“Ready the catapults!”

It looks like a gun barrel coming out from halfway down the castle.
This is also one of the new projects—the human catapult.

“Fire!”

With a shout, the shells are fired, containing not cannonballs but humans.
This is a catapult to shoot out human beings!

Let me explain.
First, the person to be shot is enchanted so that they can absorb any impact and remain safe during the flight.
Then, the catapult is used to fire them.
That’s all.

Now, we can send them to faraway places, even bypass high walls.

With this, we can send our troops into the enemy’s strongholds without a sweat!

“What a bold idea! Lord Saint, you prepared such a contraption in advance, didn’t you?”
“This is also part of our new course…”

Allow me to elaborate.

The original idea was to create an attraction that would allow people to fly.
Flying feels good, so I thought it’d be fun to play a moderately difficult game where you fly through the air and land on a designated spot.

That’s how the human catapult was created.

But is the launching power rubber? Air? Gunpowder? Maglev?
No, this is also manual.
You have your back pushed by an orc. That’s how you fly.

There was a concern that the shock-absorbing magic would dispel when the orc pushed them, but that, too, was solved after much improvement and a little practice.

Go, Orkubo’s Castle’s human catapult! Send in our elites beyond the enemy’s defenses!

“What about the soldiers we’re sending into enemy territory with this catapult?”
“They’re the students who have come to study at our place.”

We catapult these promising boys and girls who live with us on the farm study program as needed.

As I said at the beginning, the farm has no intention of getting directly involved in the war.
The reason is that once our orcs and goblins step in, it becomes a one-sided game. This could also cast a shadow over the worldly balance of power later on.

In this respect, the students who will return to this society to play an active role in the future won’t have problems if they participate in the war. In fact, it’ll make a spectacular debut for them.

“Don’t hesitate. If you demonstrate to the fullest extent what you’ve learned, you should be able to kick the heck out of a squad like that without difficulty!” says Sensei, who came with us out of worry for his students. “All of you are strong! You can do it! You’re not rotten apples!”
“Calm down, Sensei…”

If you get too worked up and make an appearance, that will make the worst one-sided game in history!

“…Then again, I can sense we’re going to have an overwhelming victory.”

In fact, the situation inside the wall is monitored in real-time.
Belena uses her clairvoyant magic to show us what’s going on inside.

“If it’s demons vs. demons, it won’t be as easy as this because they’ll counter with inhibition magic…”

Through Belena’s magic, we see the students’ impressive movements as they fight the enemy camp.
The fruits of their daily lessons from Sensei are shown here.

“Inside, there appears to be someone holding important people hostage. Is this why the soldiers reluctantly obey orders?”

“Why don’t we use our trump card to make things doubly sure?”
“Trump card?!”

We’re just really itching to use it in reality.
This new work, the ultimate weapon in Orkubo’s Moving Castle, is…

“Let’s use the main gun!”
“Main gun?!”

As a Japanese man, I can’t break free from the “big boat, big guns” rule.
Victory is achieved by firing just one massive shot, you know?

The gun barrel stretching out from the castle is several times the size of the human catapult.

“What is fired from that barrel is Orkubo’s erupting might! We use the ultimate orc’s power as a beam cannon!”
“We’ve come this far, and we’re still relying on manpower?!”

Well, all of the facilities in this castle depend on orcs, remember?

Anyway, Orkubo’s might can annihilate a city of that size a hundred times if it is in one concentrated shot!
Truly befitting of Orkubo’s Castle’s trump card!

We call this weapon the Might Cannon!
Fire!!!

“Oh, please wait.”

I was just getting into the groove when Belena interjected.

“We have received a flag signal from a student inside. They have captured the enemy commander. I guess the battle is over.”
“I see…”

Without getting to use our trump card, the battle ended in our overwhelming victory.

“I’m glad things ended there!”

Mr. Dalkish gave us an earful.
I have to admit, we did go a little far in the latter half.

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