Cargo cart.
A wheeled platform pulled by people or horses.
Some have two wheels, while others have four.
Two-wheeled carts are easier to maneuver, while four-wheeled carts can carry heavier loads.
Perhaps because Village Five have many slopes, the two-wheeled type is commonly seen.
Now then, the mountain elves have created a cargo cart.
Of course, it is not an ordinary cargo cart.
Amazingly, it does not need to be pulled by people or horses.
It is a four-wheeled cargo cart that automatically moves toward a special gemstone.
If that gemstone is placed into something like a belt, the cart will automatically follow the person wearing it.
It is incredibly useful.
To think the mountain elves suddenly created something this convenient.
It would be rude to say this, but I was genuinely surprised.
What happened?
You had been using up valuable materials and budgets on research for the Multipurpose Humanoid Mobile Heavy Machinery (Arti-Horse) and internal combustion engines, so the civil servant girls had been giving you harsh looks?
Well, projects like those are all about continuing research and building progress step by step. Profit comes later.
「As expected of Village Chief! You understand us!」
That said, having absolutely no profits or results at all would also be a problem.
「Uuh… yes, that is true」
……
「Um? Is something wrong?」
You mountain elves are not the type to stop doing what you want just because of a few harsh looks from the civil servant girls.
You are just like dwarves when alcohol is involved.
So what really happened?
「Ahaha. Actually…」
You caused an explosion accident?
Now that you mention it, I remember seeing a report about that before.
But it said there was no damage.
「There were no injuries, but we blew away some valuable materials. And unless we ask the civil servant girls, we cannot replenish them…」
I see.
「This is also part of our atonement (sorry)」
So that is why you decided to make something that would sell easily, and ended up with this cargo cart.
「Loo-san and Tier-san also helped with the development」
Could it be that those two were also bothered by the civil servant girls’ stares?
No, that cannot be it.
Those two would never care about that either.
「The two of them were also involved in the explosion accident」
……
-0-
For now, the mountain elves handled the construction of the cargo cart itself.
The magical components were handled by Loo and Tier.
It seems the lizardmen also helped with live operation testing.
「Loo-san and Tier-san said they struggled with avoiding accidents like running over the lizardmen’s tails, as well as rear ending when they suddenly stopped」
Ahh, with automatic tracking, those are the kinds of things you have to consider.
「Yes. We made it maintain a distance about as long as an adult stretching out both arms from the gemstone carried by the target person」
Hmm.
「By the way, doing that caused an amusing problem where the person wearing the target gemstone could not approach the cart」
Hahaha.
So that is why an on-off function for the tracking feature was added.
「Yes. We also had difficulties with detecting slopes, road width, and obstacles, as well as deciding what the cart should do when it could not pass through. It was quite difficult」
Judging from the number of prototypes, I can believe that.
For example, if the power output is not adjusted whenever it reaches a slope, it cannot move stably.
Considering uphill and downhill movement, it probably also needs gears.
「It would also be a problem if it started moving on its own because of its own weight. Making it stay still in place was difficult」
I see.
Hmm?
It seems there are versions with legs instead of wheels.
「We thought something multi-legged like Zabuton-san might work better for traveling through mountain paths」
I see.
But before, you made a multi-legged golem and…
「There was an unfortunate accident」
That is true.
「Remembering that, we stopped at the prototype stage. We packed it full of technologies learned from the Multipurpose Humanoid Mobile Heavy Machinery project, so mass production, or even normal production, would be difficult」
That is unfortunate.
「Yes, very unfortunate. Also, we thought that if it floated, obstacles would no longer matter」
So this is a type that allows a small floating garden to move automatically.
「We thought this would be the ultimate form, however…Production would almost entirely require Loo-san’s manual labor, and because gathering the materials is so difficult, the manufacturing cost became absurdly high. It is not suitable for sale」
I figured as much.
「Considering stable production and sales, the wheeled type became the main model」
The mountain elves themselves came to that conclusion?
「No, that opinion mainly came from the civil servant girls」
I thought so.
If it were up to the mountain elves, they would have gone with either the floating type or the multi-legged type.
「Both Loo-san and Tier-san looked very frustrated」
Ahh, yeah.
I can imagine.
So, since you are showing this to me, does that mean you are laying the groundwork for a mass-production system?
Will it be made in Village Five?
「No, it is still too early for mass production. There are still many tests left to conduct」
Then?
「Some people said it is about time」
About time?
「Please give it a name」
……For me, that is the most difficult job of all.
-0-
The mountain elves’ cargo cart was named the Tracking Cargo Cart.
I am fully aware that the name lacks creativity.
But well, how should I put it.
Giving something a strange name is not always the answer.
Simple and easy to understand is best.
-0-
The Tracking Cargo Cart continued to undergo improvements aimed at mass production and lower costs.
Since it moves automatically, every possible situation has to be considered.
At the same time, manuals for proper operation were also created.
When it was put into use in Big Tree Village, it received high praise for being extremely convenient in transporting harvested crops.
The civil servant girls wondered if it could also handle loading and unloading automatically, so the idea was considered. However, it was abandoned because it would make the price too high.
Instead, they created a dedicated unloading station. By parking the Tracking Cargo Cart there, a system was developed that automatically unloaded the cargo.
Well, the unloaded cargo still had to be transported afterward, though.
「What if we combine the unloading station and the warehouse…」
「And automate cargo movement inside the warehouse too」
「How should we decide where each item gets placed?」
「We would need records of when the cargo was brought in, right?」
The mountain elves are starting to give off the feeling that they are about to revolutionize logistics. I wonder if this is really going to be okay?
-0-
As a measure against signal interference when the Tracking Cargo Carts are mass-produced, the special gemstones used for tracking were assigned identification numbers.
Loo and Tier were thinking of using four digits, but I advised them to use twelve digits instead.
Even if all those numbers are never used, it is always better to have extra room.
-0-
Because of the difference in movement speed between the guide wearing the belt containing the special tracking gemstone and the Tracking Cargo Cart itself, there was a possibility that the cart could fall behind.
Experiments were conducted to determine how far away the cart could get before it stopped following.
Based on my own sense of distance, it was about one hundred meters if there were no obstacles.
With obstacles… well, it depended on the obstacle, but roughly thirty meters.
After seeing the experiment and its results, the high elves suggested it could be useful for searching for missing people in forests and similar places.
If the missing person carried one of the special tracking gemstones, then getting within around thirty meters would reveal their location.
I see.
Well, it would not be practical to make everyone carry one, but having adventurers bring them when entering dangerous areas might not be a bad idea.
For example, when they take requests from Village Five.
I’ll consider it.
-0-
It was also discovered that by attaching a belt containing a special tracking gemstone to a Tracking Cargo Cart, multiple carts could be linked together and moved in a chain.
Since even children could use the Tracking Cargo Cart, expectations for mass production increased even more.
The mountain elves looked slightly troubled by that.
-0-
After seeing the Tracking Cargo Carts during operational testing, Michael-san of the Goroun Company went straight to the civil servant girls and placed an order.
It is certainly helpful that he ordered a thousand units, but is it really okay that he did not even ask the price?
Hm?
A thousand units by the end of the year?
And even more next year?
Umm… do we really have to start pushing for a mass-production system now?
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