NOVEL NEXT Chapter 19
Chapter: 19
Time kept flowing.
The dragons, seemingly determined not to repeat their past mistakes, were getting along with each other as amicably as possible. They even started early moral education for the existing hatchlings and those just hatching from their eggs, teaching them that dragons must never fight amongst themselves.
They’re acting this way because they remember how upset I get when similar issues pop up. If fear can be a form of deterrent, I don’t mind being the bad guy.
The lizardmen also come once a year to offer me flowers and throw their little festivals, creating a cheerful atmosphere. Their diligent visits were kind of adorable.
The spirits, having lost their physical forms and scattered all over, are now living like carefree kids, having forgotten what they once were.
It’s too tragic to call it the end of an era for the dragons.
As for the rest… I’ve met each of the seven kiddos, except for Erebus, who’ve returned to natural phenomena over time.
Unlike Erebus, these kids have accepted their mistakes.
But then again, that doesn’t mean I plan to return their scales.
I’ll think about it if Erebus comes to me.
Oh, and there’s one problem that popped up.
The dinosaurs are extinct.
Their numbers sharply declined during the dragon wars, and after the dragons vanished, the dinosaurs were pushed out by wyverns, drakes, and sea serpents, dwindling to a point where they couldn’t survive… Eventually, they vanished from my sight.
At least some descendants of dinosaurs are surviving, but they can’t really be called dinosaurs anymore… like birds or various reptiles…
They might be lurking somewhere out of my sight, but since they aren’t on the surface, calling them extinct is fair game.
Hmm. It’s incredibly sad, but it couldn’t be helped.
Not that dinosaurs were bad or anything, but it’s time for the age of mammals to commence. Oh, thank goodness the lizardmen are surviving thanks to their intelligence…
With just a handful of dragons left, the former rulers of this world have disappeared.
In this situation, it’s about time for humans to make their appearance. It’s time to pass the baton to the next era!
Well, the mammals are still just a bit bigger than mice, so there’s a long way to go!
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Time flies quickly.
I chose one of the most mature dragons, who other dragons followed well, to be their leader, a Dragon Lord, and handed management over to them.
I delegated the overall management of the dragons, egg-hatching, and communal baby-rearing tasks to them.
I specifically instructed them to pay particular attention to egg-hatching and communal raising, so they should handle it fine.
If they’re born and raised together, regardless of their scale color, they should stop turning on each other like bloody war machines.
Sure, there have been cases of dragons with different scale colors pairing up, but… well, it’s not particularly important.
Seems like the mixed-scale dragon offspring don’t mix colors but rather inherit just one of their parents’ colors.
I don’t think it’ll be a problem.
The overall natural environment seems to be maintained by the children who’ve returned to natural phenomena, along with the spirits, in a pretty decent manner.
Even though the little spirits have forgotten about themselves, they still seem to hold the memories of their parents or feel a connection to their parent’s aura, following their directions quite well.
Thanks to that, the little spirits are trotting around the world, following their parents’ instructions to make this world look even more interesting, which is an unexpected bonus.
And, the lizardmen, who are currently the only intelligent beings besides dragons, appear to have increased in number.
The agriculture I bored them with seems to have turned out more successful than I expected, with the lizardmen’s population rapidly climbing.
After I moderately tinkered with a plant that looks a lot like corn and handed it over, they managed to farm it well all by themselves. Plus, I considered their energy consumption and gave them a bean-like plant, too.
After a few farming tries, they started alternating between corn and beans, which makes me feel quite proud.
Now, as for the long-awaited mammals…
“Uuck! Kkiik!”
They’ve turned into monkeys.
No, I get that, but! Doesn’t it feel like their evolution speed has slowed down a bit?! I mean, it’s common knowledge that more complex creatures evolve slower!
At least it’s a relief that among these monkey-like mammals, intelligence seems to be sprouting, as they’ve started grabbing branches and using them like tools.
Hmm. That’s pretty optimistic. Using tools should help develop their forelimbs… hands, so maybe they’ll evolve quickly.
One worry I have is whether the lizardmen might start hunting these mammals. But thankfully, that concern has been sorted out due to their completely different living situations.
Well, since lizardmen are cold-blooded creatures, they’re significantly affected by the environment. Dinosaurs might’ve minimized external influences with their bulk, but… lizardmen seem to be unable to do that.
Which makes it hard for them to survive if the temperature and humidity don’t suit them. Hmm.
Because of that, it seems lizardmen can’t spread all over the world, even though they’re pretty strong physically.
Oh, by the way, I’ve told them to stop coming and holding rituals for the Creator Dragon.
Sometimes I’d go into hibernation, and if the lizardmen showed up to do their rituals during that time, wouldn’t they get disappointed?
On top of that, with their environment changing thanks to the spirits, the lizardmen have shifted their bases, so coming to me would be a hassle.
I’ve decided to just take their good intentions. Just their intentions.
As a trade-off, though, I taught the lizardmen a little bit of knowledge.
Nothing major, just the ability to resonate with spirits, which other creatures, except dragons, can’t even see.
Though lizardmen don’t have much talent for magic, maybe it’s because they excel at interacting with nature or because both dragons and lizardmen share common dinosaur roots, they even came up with a kind of sorcery to borrow power from interacting with spirits, which is pretty uplifting, right?
Oh, but what’s important isn’t the lizardmen.
“Kkiik! Kkiik!!”
I watched the monkeys from afar. They were plucking fruits from trees and playing around with each other.
I wonder how long it will take until these guys create a civilization?
It feels like it might take quite a while.
“Mom. Were you watching those fluffy little guys again?”
“Well, I never get bored watching them.”
Every little thing they do feels like watching slapstick comedy.
And it’s amusing because they’re a bit intelligent too.
“The dragons were smarter…”
“Were they so brilliant that they ignited wars?”
T/N: Touché…
“……”
Sylphid couldn’t say much after that.
Having committed sins, even if she had a mouth, she wouldn’t be able to speak.
“Still haven’t found Erebus, have you?”
“Yeah. The other kids have gotten all moody and are just sitting in their places quietly… but even when I checked the original cave where Erebus was, he wasn’t there. I wonder where he has gone…”
A slight worry started creeping into my mind.
I’m endlessly anxious about what kind of shenanigans that sly little one might be up to.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
I sped up time a bit to observe the monkeys’ changes.
Monkeys evolving in various directions. Some resemble gorillas, while others look like chimpanzees.
There might be no direction to evolution, but it’s like they’re evolving haphazardly.
And this evolution isn’t just happening to monkeys but to other creatures as well.
“Kyaooong!!!”
“Shut it, you.”
I seized the head of an animal charging at me that looked like a tiger.
A saber-toothed tiger, perhaps? One with really long canines.
Sure, the beginning of mammals was a mouse-like critter, but how on earth are they evolving so rapidly?
Even though I’ve made some tweaks to expedite mutations and evolution, this is a bit too quick, don’t you think?
Maybe it would be wise to control the evolution of creatures a bit once they’re on their path.
“Kyaaaooong!!!”
The saber-toothed tiger was chomping down on my arm as if trying to take a bite. Look at this guy.
Not even ticklish. What a rascal.
I grabbed the saber-toothed tiger by the back of its neck and tossed it lightly, resulting in a “Kyaaaaaaaang!!!!” scream as it flew off into the distance.
Cats can fall from high places and not get hurt, so tossing it like that shouldn’t kill it.
It won’t die, right? Hmm.
Anyway, when will humans make their appearance?
Watching all these animals evolve randomly across the world is entertaining, but the truly significant humans aren’t appearing, making it feel like one of those gacha games.
A gacha where the character you want just doesn’t come out.
While animals resembling bears are popping up, and some horse-like creatures are sprouting horns, and creatures akin to cows and elephants are emerging.
It seems that some monkeys, having grown too large to live in trees anymore, have begun dwelling on the ground and are evolving into something resembling primitive humans.
Hmm. Is this finally the dawn of primitive humans? I’ve been waiting quite a while, and they’re finally showing up!
Ah, hold on a minute. Are there monkeys starting to resemble humans in other areas too? At least three places… and some spots I haven’t checked… Hmmm…
Well, if there are more, that’s great. It might make things more diverse.
Monkeys resembling humans are dispersing from the forest, spreading out to all directions.
I’m excited to think about what changes might occur where their paths lead! I’ve tucked a little expectation into my heart.
And so, I began to watch over the world.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Despite many races denying it, it’s an undeniable fact that all races originated from humans.
Except for the dragons and lizardmen, who have clear evidence of existing before humans appeared, the origins of other races are humans.
Primitive humans, or primitives, adapted and evolved under various environments, forming different races.
The primitives who headed towards the forest with the World Tree became the ancestors of elves, and those who went to the highest mountain in the world became the ancestors of dwarves.
Only humans have maintained their purity among the many races!
Therefore! Humans must dominate this world!
It should be humans, excluding all other races!!!
– Statement by a human supremacist.
The human supremacist who made this statement was arrested and taken away by the guards.