Ryu sat quietly among the heavyweights of the Landmark Knight Family¹-his father, his grandfather, the family butler Sebastian, and a man named Sugo. They were all gathered in the study of his father, Lord Faza.
"Ryu's initiatives have helped put the Landmark finances on the right track, but we're still in a tight spot," Lord Faza said, leaning over his desk. "Does anyone have a plan?"
It was a blunt, sweeping question. The room fell silent. Nobody had an immediate answer.
"We're tapped out for the year, aren't we?" Grandfather Camiza asked.
"Yes," Lord Faza replied. "We sank our remaining capital into the coffee cultivation Ryu suggested. Now we have to grit our teeth and wait for the harvest."
"If we could just nudge the yield higher this season, it would give us a head start on next year," Camiza mused.
Sebastian adjusted his glasses. "Our yields over the last few years have actually been quite high for this region, Sir. To ask for more might be wishful thinking."
"Well, the land here is thin and the soil was garbage to begin with! Hah!" Sugo barked out a laugh, sounding remarkably unbothered for someone whose livelihood depended on that very dirt.
Lord Faza let out a long, weary sigh. "If we could just match the output of the neighboring territories, we'd finally have some breathing room."
"Actually, I think we can prep the fields for next year for basically zero cost," Ryu said, finally breaking his silence.
The adults pivoted, their eyes pinning the young boy to his seat.
"There's plenty of forest in our lands," Ryu continued calmly. "If we gather the leaf mulch from the forest floor and till it into our fields, it'll act as natural fertilizer. I'm willing to bet our yields will jump next year."
"Is that a fact?" Lord Faza asked, leaning in.
"The Kohin beans² are thriving right now because we mimicked the forest floor's environment-mixing that rich, dark mulch with the field soil. It's the same principle," Ryu explained.
"Good grief! Why didn't you lead with that, Ryu?" Lord Faza asked. They'd been working the fields since last year; this felt like a vital piece of the puzzle.
"Sorry, Father. I didn't want to make a claim I couldn't back up with results," Ryu said.
This was only half the truth. Even with the memories of his past life, Ryu wasn't an agronomist. But he spent every day in those woods and had noticed the difference in the earth under his feet. He'd already hammered out the logic with the local farmers when they were planting: if you want the plant to grow like it does in the wild, give it the wild's dirt.
"Well, there's no time like the present," Lord Faza said, a spark returning to his eyes. "I'll bring the proposal to the village heads."
Ryu felt a swell of pride. A Lord could simply command, but his father chose to lead through cooperation. It was a quality Ryu respected.
The village heads, having already seen the success of the coffee beans, didn't need much convincing. They gathered the villagers and got to work immediately. It was already early summer-perhaps a bit late to see a miracle this season-but it was better than sitting idle.
As Ryu watched the labor, however, the sheer lack of efficiency began to grate on his nerves.
The villagers were working themselves to the bone, but they were doing it the hard way. Some stuffed leaves into hemp sacks, others tied bundles in cloth and slung them over their shoulders, and a few even tried to lug heavy bags suspended from wooden poles between two people. They were carrying so little at a time that they had to make dozens of exhausting round trips.
Don't they have Nekoguruma³ in this world? Ryu wondered.
In his previous life, Ryu had spent a chunk of his teens working construction sites. He knew exactly what a "cat"-a wheelbarrow-could do for a man's productivity.
Ryu didn't waste time. He took a set of rough blueprints to the town's woodworker and the blacksmith, asking them to collaborate on a prototype.
"I'll pay you on the back end," Ryu promised. Mainly because I'm broke right now, he thought bitterly.
The craftsmen were hesitant at first, but once they saw the designs, their professional curiosity took over. The finished product was a hybrid of their skills. They used a scaled-down version of a carriage wheel, and since rubber didn't exist here, the blacksmith wrapped the wooden rim in a thin, textured iron plate. The treads were a necessity; a smooth iron rim would just spin in the mud.
"Young Master, this is incredible!" the woodworker beamed, lifting the handles. "I've never seen anything this handy. It actually makes you want to get to work!"
When a pro tells you your idea is a winner, you listen. Ryu realized he was sitting on a goldmine. He marched straight to the Merchant Guild and filed for a patent.
A few days later, the ink wasn't even dry on the patent when the merchants started knocking. They smelled a bestseller. Since the Landmark family was still short on liquid cash, Ryu worked out a deal: the merchants would provide the upfront capital to the woodworker and blacksmith to scale up production. In exchange, Ryu got a cut of the profits without spending a copper.
The "Hand-Push Cart" was an overnight sensation in the streets of Landmark.
Being able to move a mountain of gear by yourself just by holding your balance changed everything. Ryu stood on a street corner and watched the proprietress of a local eatery pushing a cart loaded with heavy sacks of flour. She was humming to herself, moving with an ease that would have been impossible a week ago.
Ryu smiled. He'd done more than just invent a tool; he'd lightened the load of his people. And with the merchants already asking to export the carts to other territories, the Landmark coffers weren't going to stay empty for long.
Summary:
Ryu proposes an agricultural improvement by using forest leaf mulch as fertilizer to increase crop yields. After observing the inefficient manual labor of the villagers, he designs and patents the wheelbarrow (Nekoguruma). The invention becomes a commercial success, generating much-needed revenue for the struggling Landmark family.
Trivia:
- The family is currently broke due to investing in coffee cultivation.
- Ryu spent time on construction sites in his previous life, which provided the blueprint for the wheelbarrow.
- The 'cat' nickname for wheelbarrows comes from his past life knowledge (Nekoguruma).
- The invention utilizes textured iron plates on the wheels to act as treads in the absence of rubber.
- Ryu used a merchant-backed investment model to avoid needing personal upfront capital
Character Insight:
Ryu demonstrates significant growth as a strategist by leveraging patents and third-party investment rather than relying solely on his family's dwindling resources. His empathy for the common people's back-breaking labor drives his innovation.
Behind the Scenes:
The term 'Nekoguruma' is a common Japanese term for a wheelbarrow, often shortened to 'Neko' on construction sites, fitting Ryu's blue-collar background.
TL Notes:
1 ↩ Landmark Knight Family: The noble household Ryu was reincarnated into.
2 ↩ Kohin beans: A coffee-like crop Ryu introduced to the territory.
3 ↩ Nekoguruma: Literally "Cat-wagon," the Japanese word for a wheelbarrow.
Notes:
• Sebastian - The family's elderly, white-haired butler who has served since the grandfather's generation. Highly knowledgeable.
• Faza - The Lord of the Landmark Domain. A slender but sturdily built man with red hair and brown eyes.
• Sugo - Captain of the territorial guards. Responsible for teaching martial arts. Large, grim-faced, and protective of Ryu.
• Ryu - Formerly Yokohama Ryusei, a yakuza. Reincarnated as the third son of the Landmark family. Has red hair and blue eyes. Possesses memories of his previous life and the ability to see names of objects.
• Camiza - Ryu's grandfather.