What about the Handcart?

Ryu was among the adults of the Landmark family, including his father, grandfather, Sugo, and the butler.

They were in his father's office.

"Thanks to Ryu, the Landmark family's financial recovery is progressing, but it's still tough. Do you have any ideas?" It was a vague question, and no one had an answer.

"Already, there's no extra money this year, right?" Ryu's grandfather, Kamiza, asked his father.

"Yes, we spent money on the coffee bean cultivation proposal that Ryu suggested, so we have to be patient until harvest time," his father replied.

"If the harvest is better than it is now, it will carry over to next year, won't it?" Kamiza asked.

"In the past ten years, the harvest has been good for the past few years, so that might be too hopeful," the butler Sebastian pointed out.

"The land was poor and depleted, so it's not surprising," Sugo said, laughing as if it had nothing to do with him.

"If we had at least one more harvest from the neighboring land, we would have more leeway," Father sighed.

"...I think we can improve the fields almost for free for next year," Ryu, who had been listening silently, spoke up.

"The territory has a lot of forests. If we collect the forest leaves and mix them into the soil of the fields, it will become fertilizer, and I think the harvest will increase even more next year."

"Is that so?" The Landmark adults stared at Ryu as if they had never heard of it before.

"The coffee fields are going well now, but that's because we made the environment the same by mixing the forest leaves and soil," Ryu explained.

"Oh! Why didn't you say that before, Ryu?" Father asked.

"I'm sorry, I didn't have any proof, so I couldn't report it until now," Ryu replied. This was true; even in his past life, he wasn't knowledgeable about agriculture. However, he had noticed the difference in the soil from entering the forest every day. So when he talked to the farmers about growing the coffee trees, they agreed that it would be better to make the soil environment the same.

"Well, we can do it now. Let's propose it to the village chief," Father said. Ryu's suggestion was well-received by the village chiefs, who had already seen the success of the coffee bean cultivation, and they immediately gathered the villagers to start the work. It was already early summer, so it was uncertain whether it would be effective, but it was better than doing nothing. Another harvest season to look forward to had been added.

Ryu wondered if there was a cat cart in this world. A cat cart was a handcart pushed by people at construction sites. It was mainly called "Cat Cart" at construction sites.

Ryu had worked part-time at a construction site when he was a teenager in his past life. So he took the design plans for a cat cart to the woodworking and blacksmith shops in town and asked them to make one together as a trial. He would pay them later, as he didn't have any money at the moment.

At first, the artisans were reluctant, but they were interested in the design plans. After some joint work, some changes were made. The tire part was made smaller by using a wagon wheel and thin, grooved iron plates were attached to improve the strength since there was no rubber in this world.

"Boy, this is a great invention! I've never seen anything so convenient before. I was excited to make it!" The artisans praised Ryu.

Ryu thought it might be profitable, so he went to the Commercial Guild right away and applied for a patent.

A few days later, when the patent for the handcart was received from the Commercial Guild, merchants immediately visited Ryu to talk about its commercialization. Of course, the Landmark family didn't have any money at the moment, so they decided to pay the woodworking and blacksmith shops and increase production by investing in the merchants.

In Landmark city, this handcart became a big hit. One person could carry heavy things, and anyone could push them as long as they kept their balance. The proprietress of a small restaurant was happily pushing the handcart with a bag of wheat on top of it.

Ryu was happy to see this. He felt that he had contributed to the Landmark territory, and soon after, merchants approached him with offers for expanding the sales of the handcart outside the territory.