My family runs an adventurer's guild.

The businesses in town that offer loans are mostly associated with organized crime, their credit is extremely unreliable, and their interest rates are exorbitant, similar to modern-day loan sharks on Earth.

"...The streets and buildings in the town are relatively clean, and there are cleaners responsible for cleaning, but it is not clear whether they are hired workers or performing corvée labor."

"...Totoro Town has sewers for draining sewage, but there is no tap water system connected to every household. Residents need to draw water from public pools or wells for their daily lives. Polluting public pools or wells is a serious crime that can result in fines or hard labor."

Nevertheless, the fresh water supplied in the town is still salty and bitter, suitable for washing but not for direct drinking. Residents with better financial means would buy household magical water filters from the alchemy workshop. These filters come in various models and styles, and after being purified with magic, they can obtain pure, sweet water.

However, not every household could afford a magic water filter, so there were shops on the street selling purified water; a pot could be bought for one copper coin.

"...There are many magical items in Totoro Town, and even more magical items can be seen everywhere in the lord's castle. However, most of them are handmade products, without any signs of large factories or assembly line production. The most numerous items are magic lamps and magic water filters, followed by various magical weapons and jewelry with defensive spells. Citizens are proud to own an enchanted sword or piece of jewelry, which shows that this world is not safe and various violent conflicts are very frequent."

"...Although it is adjacent to the sea, there are no good bays near Totoro Town. Therefore, apart from a few small rowboats, the local transportation is still mainly by pack animals and animal-drawn carts, as well as sedan chairs. In addition to cattle, horses, mules and donkeys that also exist on Earth, the animals that pull the carts are earth dragons that resemble reptiles, centaurs that pull the carts themselves instead of animals, and some kind of giant hamster with a very unscientific appearance."

It is said that there are magically powered vehicles in the royal capital, Thousand Sails City, but they are very expensive and not very practical, considered luxury items for the wealthy to flaunt their wealth.

"...Due to the vast differences in physical characteristics among the various races, local medicine is underdeveloped, and the residents rely heavily on the healing magic of the temple. There is no dedicated general hospital in the entire town, only a small private clinic run by a female doctor, selling cheap herbs to aid digestion and treat constipation, as well as aphrodisiacs for men and women. At first glance, it looks more like the tent of a fortune-telling witch..."

……

As dusk falls, a group of bipedal cats wearing collars wander around the streets of Totoro Town, bathed in the slanting rays of the setting sun. They look left and right, touch their surroundings, and occasionally jot down notes in their little notebooks. Although it is really difficult to write with their chubby paws, they have managed to make themselves paw covers and fix charcoal pencils to them, so that they can at least manage to write and draw.

They were members of the Earth exploration team who had transformed into cats. After eating, drinking, and resting, they began their assigned tasks.

Chapter 239, Earth Cat Discovers a Blind Spot! (Happy Mid-Autumn Festival)

As a town with a population of ten thousand (in reality, the vast majority of whom are not human), Totoro Town's commerce and trade should be considered quite prosperous. Not only is there a central square outside the Adventurers' Guild that is always crowded with vendors—this is where Phil was ridden by the fairy Flor to perform jumping through fire hoops—but there is also a complete commercial street with general stores, taverns, bakeries, pawnshops, barbershops, clinics, and brothels.

In addition to the central square and commercial street of Totoro Town, there are also many shops scattered in other areas, such as the Gladiator's Tavern owned by Ernest, the fake dragon owner, and the blacksmith shop that was driven to the edge of town due to its constant noise and smoke. There are more than a hundred shops in total.

A group of cats from Earth stood by the roadside, feeling as if they had stepped into a small Italian town during the Renaissance. The square was bustling with activity, and all sorts of shops lined the streets, many of them not just single-story buildings, but two, three, or even four or five stories high. Elves, humans, kobolds, various orcs, and some other races they didn't know how to name moved about, hawking their wares and shopping.

Such a bustling and prosperous scene would be nothing special in the developed countries and regions of modern Earth, but in this sparsely populated, technologically backward, and less mobile fantasy world, it is quite remarkable. If Totoro Town weren't located near the capital and situated on a major transportation route, a town of about ten thousand people like this wouldn't be able to achieve such prosperity.

Amidst the commotion, several elderly cat professors, each with a notebook in hand, were conducting a social survey. Their first focus was on the blacksmith shop in Totoro Town.

Because before and after the Industrial Revolution, the quantity and quality of metal products were one of the important standards reflecting social changes.

Before the Industrial Revolution, most steel products were hammered out by burly blacksmiths, who relied on their experience to determine the carbon and sulfur content. Moreover, most craftsmen, once they figured out a little bit of their skill, would keep it a secret, afraid that others would find out and cut off their livelihood. As a result, their descendants often couldn't learn it or didn't have time to teach it, and it was easily lost.

Even more critically, without scientific inductive analysis, the experience of these master craftsmen, even if not lost, is not necessarily reliable; at the very least, it's a matter of knowing the "how" but not the "why." This is especially true when the tradition has been passed down for generations, or when the original ore source has been cut off, forcing a switch to a different type of iron ore... In such cases, past experience can easily become a complete burden and error.

Therefore, in medieval Europe, the production of high-quality steel was never a statistical issue, but rather a mystical one requiring divine intervention. A single sickle could deplete a peasant's savings for a year or even several years, while a set of knight's armor could buy an entire estate…

After the Industrial Revolution, the production and quality of steel experienced explosive growth, greatly enhancing humankind's ability to transform nature.

However, this is, after all, a world with magic, so while the dwarven blacksmiths in town still have to swing hammers to forge iron, they can at least use rune furnaces for high-temperature processing and directly purchase ready-made iron ingots from the royal capital's large workshops, instead of completing the entire process from iron ore to hoes and sickles themselves... Finally, they can use magic to add various magical effects to their products, such as [fire], [ice], [rust prevention], and so on.

Of course, the hard labor such as blowing air was done by slaves with iron chains around their ankles, so that the blacksmith shop could keep running.

With such production efficiency, although it was still far from comparable to the large-scale industrial production of modern metallurgy on Earth, it was already far superior to medieval Europe. At least all the residents of the town could afford iron pots and kitchen knives, and the farmers in the suburbs were not so destitute that they had to use wooden plows and stone tools to clear land and cultivate crops.

Even so, a complete set of kitchen utensils is still quite expensive here, and the more intricate the gadget, the more troublesome it is to prepare. Therefore, as an alternative, residents generally sharpen bone knives to use as table knives, for peeling fruit or cutting pastries. For daily meals, they use earthenware bowls and wooden cups, or slightly more expensive glassware. Only wealthy people who like to show off use even more expensive porcelain and copper cups, or purely ostentatious silverware.

After visiting the blacksmith shop in Totoro Town and using the pocket money Frie had given them to buy a small dagger as a reference sample, the group of investigators went to the tailor shop and shoe store—the Industrial Revolution on Earth began with the great development of textile industry by the Jenny.

Then they discovered that standardizing the production of everyday consumer goods in this multi-racial world was incredibly difficult—the cats on the expedition team had just entered a tailor shop when they saw a minotaur buying a wedding suit. To fit his size, the trousers and shirt had to be extra-large and short, the kind of clothes humans couldn't wear. Even the top hat had to be custom-made, otherwise it would be pierced by the minotaur's horns… Similarly, the boots the minotaur ordered from the shoe store next door also had to be shaped like bull hooves, so the store didn't have any in stock and had to make them to order.

Therefore, these shops usually only display a sample outside, and only start taking measurements and making shoes after the customer pays a deposit...

"...It seems...it's going to be very difficult to sell ready-made clothes in this world! At most, we can only have factories mass-produce various fabrics, and then let customers buy the fabrics and make their own clothes, or hire a tailor with the money," a standing orange cat sighed.

"...Yes, but even fabric isn't always universally applicable! Look at this robe made for the bear-man. Because bears are large, the fabric needs to be strong. Only the roughest canvas could be used to make the robe so it wouldn't tear. But the customer, wanting to look grand, insisted on having a silk robe made!"

Another black cat said, "...as a result, the tailor had no choice but to sew the silk onto the outer surface of the canvas...it's so bizarre I don't know what to say."

One can imagine that a warm and thick cotton-padded coat for a cat-person would be as thin as paper in the eyes of a giant if made to the same thickness. A wine cup that is the right size for a human would be used as a food bowl in a cat-person's home... Customers' needs are so complex, varied, and never the same, it's really difficult for the craftsmen! How can they not charge more service fees? As a result, the price of industrial products naturally cannot be reduced.

After sighing for a while, they strolled over to a nearby tavern to investigate the daily diet of ordinary citizens in this fantasy world.

It was evening, not only the town's residents' dinner time—in the absence of electricity, the poor ate dinner early because they couldn't afford to light lamps and couldn't eat in the dark—but also the maintenance time for the Overlord game in Totoro Town. Hundreds of players, engrossed in Overlord, emerged from the Temple of Sleeping God in twos and threes, chatting about their new experiences and misfortunes in the game, before rushing to find places to relieve themselves and eat, preparing to return to the game for another round of battle after the maintenance was over.

In fact, the Soul-Traveling Game of the Church of Hypnos doesn't require computers. Unless a new map is to be opened, there is no need for downtime maintenance. However, the Temple of Hypnos still has to kick out guests for a while every day or every few days in order to clean up the sleep pods.

After all, if these shut-ins sleep in the pods for too long without cleaning, the bedding and pillows inside will get dirty and smelly. Moreover, this is a necessary anti-addiction measure to prevent some addicted and unrestrained players from dying of thirst or hunger in the sleep pods and causing trouble for the Church of Sleep.

So, the upright cats of the Earth Expedition followed the players into a small tavern that didn't look very high-class—players who had poured a lot of spare money and time into the game couldn't be expected to be particular about food and drink.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Acrid smoke, rude noise, women's giggles, and the pungent smell of cheap liquor.

Similar to scenes from medieval European movies on Earth, the tavern's decor was rather ordinary, though it did have whitewashed brick walls and wooden beams and pillars. A long row of pickled fish, sausages, raw meat, vegetables, and freshly slaughtered chickens and ducks hung on the outer porch, giving off the vibe of a wet market or supermarket's fresh food section—on Earth, this would seem rather undignified, but here it appeared to be a symbol of wealth.

Seemingly for warmth, the tavern's main hall had few windows, and oil lamps were lit before dark, but the light remained dim. The furniture and utensils were all filthy and dilapidated; the glasses and plates were mostly made of wood, and appeared quite pitted and uneven. Although the tavern floor was paved with bricks, it was filthy, and dogs even darted among the customers' legs, vying for bones and breadcrumbs left behind.

However, unlike medieval Europe on Earth, the patrons and waiters in this tavern mostly had appearances other than humans—dwarves held foamy dark beer, loudly munching and gorging on coarse food and drink. Even smaller cat-people munched on dried fish or grilled fish cakes, licking hot milk. A half-human dancer, seemingly of succubus descent, danced energetically against a wooden pillar near the bar (plaster poles were too expensive for the small bar), occasionally eliciting applause and cheers. Several more cat-eared women, with wanton expressions and even more revealing clothing, mingled among them, seductively placing the hands of every willing customer on their breasts…

This pub doesn't provide paper menus; instead, it has a wooden board on the wall with prices painted on it, much like a small café or ramen shop on Earth. But unlike on Earth, the pub's price list has almost no text.

The various foods and drinks offered by this tavern, including black bread, white bread, cakes, porridge, milk, dried anchovies, steaks, broth, sausages, roast chicken, fruit, beer, wine, and spirits, are all depicted in simple line drawings on one end of the price list. These are quite exquisite colored illustrations, while the other end displays the price and symbols for coins and glasses, indicating that the drinks are sold by the glass.

Why are the food items drawn on the price list? Is it because the literacy rate of the local residents is too low?

The upright cats of the Earth Exploration Team speculated this way, but didn't pay much attention to it—when they were conducting social surveys in poor areas, they had seen those run-down taverns that didn't even have price lists on the wall, and where you had to rely on the waiters or bartenders to quote prices for your food!

So they simply followed a few cat-man players to the long table by the bar and ordered dried fish and milk as the crowd.

A moment later, hot milk and dried fish were served by the cat-eared waitress behind the counter. The picky Earth cats immediately noticed that the wooden bowls holding the milk were rough, looked greasy, and hadn't been washed properly. They pinched their noses, lowered their heads, and took a bite... Ugh!

What kind of milk is this? It's sour, fishy, ​​and has a weird smell...

There's no way around it; before pasteurization was invented, milk had a very short shelf life. Fresh milk squeezed out in the morning is still a bit sweet, but now it's evening, so... the taste is naturally terrible. It's not bad enough to cause diarrhea, but it is.

The proper way for the residents of Totoro Town to drink this not-so-fresh milk is to add sugar to mask the off-flavor. However, adding sugar to hot milk costs extra, and the upright cats from Earth hadn't expected that the cat-eared bartender wouldn't be adding sugar for free...

So the Earth cats pushed the milk aside, munched on dried fish, and observed the customers' conversations.

—Some people are complaining about their disobedient and troublesome children, some are lamenting rising prices and stagnant wages, some are grumbling that the wine seems to be watered down, and many are talking about the recently popular game "Overlord," which sounds like an 18+ game where you can hire prostitutes and play with women—but in the Golden Dragon Kingdom, there is clearly no 18+ game player access system... Whether it's cat people, kobolds, dwarves, humans, centaurs, or any other race chatting, it all sounds very ordinary, full of the lively atmosphere of everyday life.

The only unusual thing is that they seem to really enjoy gesturing wildly, even when it seems completely unnecessary. They often talk and gesture at the same time, and sometimes they even knock over cups or bump into others because of it...

Furthermore, some customers remain completely silent when ordering food and drinks, simply pointing to the price list and gesturing to indicate how many drinks or dishes they want, making one wonder if they are mute. However, once seated, they immediately resume their lively conversation.

What's going on here? Is body language more prevalent here?

An orange cat, whose real identity is a history professor at Harvard University, thought to itself while stroking its chin.

But then he discovered something even more amiss.

"...Hey? Do you have any new varieties of wine today? How much are they?"

A chubby kobold pointed to a miniature oak barrel on the counter and asked. The barrel was only about the size of a pillow, but its design was exceptionally exquisite. Not only was it decorated with reliefs of leaves and flowers, but the metal hoops on the barrel were also enchanted, refracting a dazzling array of colors under the oil lamp.

"...You mean this Rainbow Crown fruit wine? Sir, you have excellent taste! This is a top-grade royal wine recently imported from the southern elves! Brewed by the elven court magicians! Not only is it expensive, but it's also extremely rare. This is the first time our shop has stocked such a fine wine! Just one sip will make you feel like you're in heaven! Three gold coins for a glass of Rainbow Crown, meow!"

When a big spender pointed to the most expensive drink and asked about the price, the cat-eared bartender immediately perked up her tail excitedly and held up three fingers to promote it.

"...Three silver coins a cup? Hmm, that's pretty cheap. Give me a cup to try!"

However, when faced with the cat-eared bartender holding up three fingers, the kobold customer slowly laid out three silver coins on the table and then put his hand back into his sleeve, seemingly waiting for the cat-eared bartender to pour him a drink.

"...Sir, it's three gold coins a cup! Not three silver coins a cup!"

The cat-eared bartender was dumbfounded when she saw the three silver coins on the counter. She hurriedly raised three fingers and shook them.

"...Huh? What are you talking about? One, two, three, didn't I take out the money as you said? Pour the wine!"

The dog-headed customer looked at the cat-eared bartender's three fingers, then at the three silver coins lined up on the counter, and looked completely innocent.

—That's strange, what's going on with these two?

Just as the history professor, an orange cat, was completely bewildered, the translation amulet on his collar, which was imbued with the [Language Proficiency] magic, ran out of energy and immediately dimmed with a "click," no longer emitting the magical glow that signified normal operation.

Thus, the conversation between the cat-eared bartender and the kobold customer, as heard by this orange cat history professor, became this:

"...Meow! Meow, meow, meow!"

"...Woof woof! Woof woof woof woof!"

—A classic case of talking at cross purposes… well, it should be described as “talking to a cat and a dog”…

No wonder cats and dogs can't understand each other at all!

It wasn't until the cat-eared bartender finally realized what was going on, took out a gold coin from the counter as a sample and waved it, then held up three fingers to indicate the price, that the kobold customer opposite him understood that the fruit wine in the small oak barrel was so expensive. He reluctantly put away the silver coin and turned to leave.

In addition, if you listen carefully, you can hear other kinds of noise in the tavern.

"...Meow! Meow hey meow hey!"

"...Chirp chirp, chirp chirp chirp!"

“……＃￥@＃%%……＆**＃@￥＆……”

Hearing all sorts of distinctly different languages ​​mingling together in this crowded little pub, creating a chaotic jumble of noise, the orange cat history professor from Earth was momentarily stunned...

"...Meow! No wonder they're using sign language! Just how many languages ​​are spoken in this little tavern, meow?"

Chapter 240, How many foreign languages ​​do you have to learn in this place?

As an immigrant nation with a large number of ethnic groups, the Golden Dragon Kingdom has countless languages ​​and scripts.

—The dragons, who are the rulers, and the kobolds, catmen, werewolves, goatmen, pigmen, minotaurs, dwarves, halflings, elves, dark elves, humans, and so on, who are their subjects, all had their own languages, scripts, and cultures before they migrated across the ocean to the New World.

In fact, even among human beings, those who came from different countries and ethnic groups before immigrating may not be able to communicate smoothly with each other.

Similarly, even within the same race, such as orcs and dwarves, the languages ​​and scripts used are not entirely the same. According to a rough estimate by court scholars, in the Golden Dragon Kingdom, with a population of only three million, there are more than one hundred different languages, and the number of dialects is even greater.

—Under the dim twilight, after returning to the lord's castle in Totoro Town and describing to Phil the amazing sights his research team had encountered in the town's tavern, the Harvard University history professor, an orange cat, received the above reply.

"...This is unbelievable! How can so many languages ​​be used at the same time? Doesn't the Golden Dragon Kingdom have an official language? How many foreign languages ​​do your officials have to learn to communicate with the people?"

The history professor from Harvard University, who was like an orange cat, was stunned for a moment—multi-ethnic and multilingual countries are very common on Earth, but regardless of the political system and institutions, generally speaking, the ruling class of each country will strive to unify the language of the country.

For example, although the United States is known as a "melting pot of the world," its efforts to promote ethnic integration and require immigrants from all over the world to speak English have never ceased since its founding. In recent years, due to the impact of multiculturalism theory, the number of new immigrants in the southern states who only speak Spanish has increased, causing concern among many insightful people: even if these new immigrants are actually learning English, the collapse of public education in the lower classes and the prevalence of anti-intellectualism have hindered their progress.

Even in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which was criticized for its linguistic inconsistencies, the supreme status of German was never shaken.

How could this Golden Dragon Kingdom be so abnormal, with so many languages ​​spoken simultaneously in a small town?

“…A national official language, theoretically it does exist, but the problem is that too few people understand it…” Phil scratched his head and replied.

As a nation founded and ruled by dragons, the official language of the Golden Dragon Kingdom is naturally, and it must be, dragon language.

The problem is that, aside from dragons and kobolds, very few people use dragon language in everyday conversation—although it sounds a lot like dog barks, the kobolds do indeed speak dragon language. Of course, the vast majority of kobolds speak a heavily accented dialect, so much so that most dragons simply cannot understand it without translation magic. Only kobolds who serve as stewards or personal servants to dragons, through exposure and diligent imitation, might be able to speak dragon language more fluently.

In fact, from a biological classification perspective, the so-called "dog-headed people" are not only covered in scales but also oviparous, so they should be called reptilian people. The problem is, their heads resemble dogs, and they speak in a dog-like manner, leading to the misconception that they are dog-headed people.

—Somewhat similar to the black and white fur of a panda that gnaws on bamboo, which eventually transformed into a panda after several twists and turns.

Aside from the kobolds, virtually none of His Majesty the Dragon King Alaric's subjects could converse in Dragon Language. Apart from a few scholars specializing in languages, only some spellcasters could manage to recite a few phrases when casting Dragon Language magic.

Comparatively speaking, there are slightly more people who can read dragon language, because court proclamations and bestowal documents must be written in dragon language.

There's no way around it; Dragon Language wasn't designed for mammals. Humans, orcs, elves, dwarves, and halflings all experience great difficulty and pain when speaking it. It's not something you can master through hard work; it truly requires abusing your throat! Especially the pronunciation of certain words in Dragon Language—they're simply impossible for human vocal cords to produce.

Unless aided by magic, mortals simply cannot speak dragon language fluently. At most, they can only utter one word at a time, and some words are even unreadable. The reason why many dragon language spells are unlearnable by humans is that human vocal cords cannot produce certain syllables.

Similarly, the differences in the vocal organs between different races make it far more difficult for orcs, humans, elves, dwarves, and halflings to speak each other's languages ​​than it is for Earthlings to learn foreign languages. In fact, it is impossible for a universal language that covers all intelligent races to exist.

Thus, the elves, orcs, dwarves, halflings, and humans who immigrated to the Golden Dragon Kingdom brought their own languages ​​and scripts from their homelands. Since the Golden Dragon Kingdom had no compulsory education or cultural integration policies, there was no widely spoken common language in the country. After the subjects of each race migrated here, they still spoke their own languages ​​and could only speak their own languages—you can't expect werewolves to learn cat language, can you?

If government documents had to be translated and rewritten in all common languages, even the simplest notice could be as thick as a dictionary!

Fortunately, this did not happen. Due to the instinct of different races to stick together in a foreign land, immigrants from various ethnic groups who came to the New World tended to live together and form small communities, just like the distinct Chinatown, Black neighborhoods and White neighborhoods in modern America.

For example, nearly half of the cat-people in the Golden Dragon Kingdom live in Totoro Town. The neighboring Mead Town is inhabited by minotaurs. Not far away, in Foothill Town, two-thirds of the residents are dwarves—therefore, each town in the Golden Dragon Kingdom has its own unwritten "local language," a form of local autonomy: proclamations in Totoro Town are generally written in cat language, while those in Foothill Town are written in dwarven language.

Even so, the elites in various places still need some form of communication, especially in the kingdom's court—although His Majesty the Dragon King is exceptionally talented and can communicate smoothly with every race of his subjects, the ministers and officials still need to be able to communicate with each other.

Russian is also very difficult to pronounce; the Soviets even forced the people of the five Central Asian countries to learn it.

However, the ruling class of the Golden Dragon Kingdom did not care much about this, because they did not have the problem of not being able to communicate with each other.

In fact, for the upper class who hold power in the Golden Dragon Kingdom, the language barrier is practically non-existent.

—Because this is a fantasy world with magic and divine arts.

As for the communication problems among the lower-class poor, the noble lords and spellcasters simply couldn't be bothered with them...

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

"...How do His Majesty the Dragon King and his ministers discuss matters when they don't understand each other's languages ​​and there's no widely used official common language? How do orders be relayed within the army? How do merchants conduct business? It's simple, they rely on magic!"

Faced with the questions from the Earth expedition members, Phil replied matter-of-factly, "...[Language Proficiency] is merely a level one spell, very easy to master. Any apprentice mage who graduates from a magic apprenticeship can generally master it."

Then, in the priestly magic of almost every church, there is also a spell with the same name, and it is a basic prerequisite for apprentices to be promoted - if a formal priest does not even understand the language, how can he travel around and preach to the gods?

According to our country's laws, if someone doesn't even know this magic or isn't proficient in using it, they are generally not allowed to obtain any public office. Even if someone manages to get a position through crooked means, they will be ridiculed and ostracized by their colleagues and will find it difficult to gain a foothold.