Chapter 26: A Gift

How does one come up with an idea for a Startup?

One way is when the idea suddenly comes to you.

Sometimes, an idea pops up while you’re showering, taking care of business in the bathroom, or playing a game.

Such ideas have a flash of sudden creativity, which I call Blink.

Originally, Blink refers to a term meaning a good judgment made by our inherent sense and potential in moments of crisis or when quick decision-making is needed.

I considered the momentary inspiration for a great business idea to be a kind of Blink as well.

When Blink happens, it feels as if time and space have stopped, and one world-changing idea after another is chained together.

During those moments, things I once struggled to think of are swept away by a flood of good ideas in my mind.

Of course, among these ideas, there are times when someone is already doing it in the market.

But often, even if it’s similar, there are cases that show a little more creativity.

Riding in the carriage with Lady Frana Bella, I experienced a Blink as well. In this world, carriages are usually purchased and operated directly by Nobles or Sangdan.

Nobles mainly use them for transportation, while Sangdan use them for transporting goods. According to Meat, Grunvalt currently has a surplus of Coachmen.

Coachman is a specialized job, but these days, it seems they are somewhat disregarded. Why has this happened?

Coachmen manage both horses and carriages. Problems could arise from poor horse management or from carriage accidents.

Though I don’t know the exact reason, what’s important in this situation is to resolve the imbalance between supply and demand.

“What if there were a third option?”

If you think a little differently, Coachmen don’t have to be employed only by Nobles or Sangdan. I want to create a third option for Coachmen.

That is, public carriages.

This world is similar to Earth, but one noticeable difference is the lack of public transportation.

Nobles can use their own carriages to travel long distances, but poor Nobles or commoners have no choice but to walk long distances.

There seems to be a system for renting horses, but for commoners, learning to ride is even more difficult.

Naturally, unless one is lucky enough to hitch a ride on a Noble’s or a Sangdan’s carriage, long-distance travel must be done on foot.

Also, even authoritative Nobles who own carriages may need public carriages.

From the perspective of such Nobles, their carriage’s unique crest makes their destination easy to track, so they may need to move secretly using a public carriage.

There are even cases, like today with Meat’s employer, where they suddenly need to use two carriages at once.

What if there were a public carriage service that could be reserved anytime, anywhere? A carriage that not only Nobles, but also commoners and even Sangdan could use.

A kind of carriage-hailing service managed by a system.

But the problem is, maintaining carriages is very expensive.

Horses, coachmen, and carriages must all be managed by a system. So, I recalled a similar service from Earth.

Uber.

That service had the slogan “Go anywhere,” and connected passengers and shared vehicles through a smartphone app.

Though there were always legal disputes and controversies, it’s recognized as a service that expanded fastest worldwide in the 21st century with its innovative technology and business model.

Its beginnings were humble. In 2008, after experiencing the infamously hard-to-hail taxis of Paris at a conference, the founder thought of an idea to easily call cars through a smartphone app, and within a year, created the service and started a Startup.

By the 2020s, Uber’s market capitalization reached 120 billion dollars, over 160 trillion won. A representative Unicorn Company. From this company,

I got the idea for a public carriage service.

“The first Startup project is the public carriage transportation service, “Maber.””

“….”

“Maber is this kind of project…”

I explained the business model of the Maber project to Meat.

“Hmm… Pizza, I think that business has a lot of issues.”

“It’s not Pizza… it’s William. What kind of issues?”

“The idea of running carriages separately is good, but if coachmen have to buy their own carriages and horses to operate, it will cost a huge amount of money…

You’d need to prepare a lot of coachmen, carriages, and horses for it to work.”

Okay. That problem can be solved.

“What’s the second issue?”

“There’s no way to protect the carriages. A Noble’s carriage, or a Sangdan carriage, is protected simply by the crest on it.

Even so, carriages are always accompanied by guards. But if a carriage isn’t owned by a Noble, Sangdan, or Mercenary Company, and isn’t protected, it’ll become an easy target for bandits.

If you go outside the city, there’s no way to prevent that.”

I thought about that issue as well. That’s why I created a Mercenary Company with the Sangdan.

Sooner or later, we’ll have to create a Startup to provide carriage escorts.

There’s one more thing.

“Hmm, communication could also be an issue. If you’re managing horses and carriages by employer’s orders, that’s one thing, but if you’re carrying various passengers, how will you contact us?”

“And then…”

“Wouldn’t the way coachmen get paid also be a problem? We usually get monthly salaries through employment contracts… Would something like that be possible?”

It seems to Meat that there are many mountains to overcome.

“Even so, having this kind of service would be nice.

There are a lot of Nobles without carriages, and while commoners sometimes hitch a ride when someone offers, that’s the only way.

There’s a limit to how far you can walk when you need to go far.

I also walked seven days to get to Grunvalt. I almost died back then.

In those cases, a carriage service like this would be great.”

Surprisingly, the negative thoughts I’d had today about public carriages and Meat’s opinions were quite similar.

“Meat, you’re smarter than you look. Yes, everything you mentioned is a problem.

We can’t do the Maber Startup unless we solve these issues. That’s why what we need is a system.”

A system, huh.

“That’s right. We need to build a system.”

What is the biggest challenge we’ll face in launching the Startup “Maber”?

In this world, the concept of public transportation isn’t even something people have thought about.

Even on Earth, creating and maintaining public transportation requires a lot of money and complicated systems.

You need a certain number of carriages, and carriages must be managed collectively. The price and upkeep of carriages and horses must be at least as much as the coachman’s monthly wage for survival.

Especially since we’d have to regularly employ at least dozens of people, the monthly maintenance costs will be quite high.

We also need to create a system to maintain the security of the carriages. But getting all this in place before starting would take too long.

We’ll begin Maber in the big cities, and gradually implement these features.

And, what else? Ah, we’ll need ways to communicate with carriages and manage scheduling. We need to introduce a reservation system. There are many new systems we’ll have to develop in various areas.

‘Yes, this is what you call business. Overcoming difficult problems and developing the business. Ahh… This is what a Startup is. This is what I’ve wanted to do!’

I feel my whole body tingling with excitement.

“William… honestly, I still don’t really get it.”

“Captain, I’m also not sure if this business will work.”

Unlike me, it seems Meat and Slot are still unsure. Will it succeed? Of course, I don’t know either.

‘You never know until you try. That’s all there is to it.’

***

“Hey, Meat.”

While drinking beer at the tavern and fleshing out our ideas with Meat and Slot, someone called out to Meat from afar.

“Ah. Butler, what brings you here?”

Meat said he was the butler of the Noble who had previously hired him. That’s the very Noble who beat up Meat so badly.

‘Why did he come? Don’t tell me he’s here for revenge?’

I glanced at Slot, and he subtly reached for the sword on his back. Meat waved his hands as if to say it wasn’t anything like that.

“I went to the carriage Exchange Office and couldn’t find you, so I came here.”

“Why… do you need me?”

Good question. What business does he have with a coachman he’s already fired?

“Actually, today I came out without my master’s knowledge.”

He glanced around, then spoke in a low voice to Meat.

“The young lady is outside. It seems she’s only now heard the full story of your dismissal. She secretly asked me for a favor.”

“Ah… The young lady?”

Meat hurried outside. Now that I think about it, he said there was an issue when he urgently drove the young lady this morning at her request. She must be a kind-hearted Noble lady.

We all went out together. Outside stood a Noble girl, about fifteen years old, with a carriage. Meat spoke with a sullen face.

“Lady Serin, what brings you here?”

Upon seeing his face, she was surprised.

“Oh my! Handso… I mean, how did your face end up like this… It’s been ten days since you were kicked out, but your face is still so swollen? I just heard you were beaten severely by Father. I’d only been told you were kicked out for making a serious mistake… Now I realize it was because of me.”

The Noble lady was about to call him “handsome” but then… glanced at Slot beside her and carefully changed her words.

‘That Slot guy, quietly causing all sorts of hidden mischief…’

“Can I speak to Father so you can come back?”

The newly hired coachman standing behind her was startled.

He must have been worried that he’d be fired soon after being hired.

“It seems you’ve already hired a new coachman. And the master would never hire me back.”

She spoke in a half-choked voice.

“But… that’s because I suddenly asked to go out in the morning. It’s my fault!”

“Haha… The fact that you came looking for me like this makes all my pain feel like it’s gone.

What would happen if a lady like you came out here without even saying a word for someone like me?”

Meat’s eyes glistened as he looked at the young lady.

What’s this… could it be… that? Come to think of it, Meat was quite popular back in the communal living quarters.

He’s got an honest, neat appearance and a good sense of humor.

The Noble girl wiped her tears and then asked the butler for what she’d prepared.

It was a set of gloves and a whip used by coachmen. Meat took them and asked the young lady,

“Young lady, what are these?”

“What else? They’re a gift.”

“A gift?”

“That’s right… The day after you were kicked out was actually the first anniversary of you coming to our house. So I hurried out to buy a gift to celebrate…”

Meat gazed at the young lady, moved.