Time continued to flow on without pause.
The dragons, seemingly intent not to repeat their past mistakes, were getting along as amicably as possible with each other. They had even begun early moral education for the existing hatchlings and those who had just hatched, teaching them that dragons shouldn’t fight among themselves.
It’s because they remember that I get seriously pissed off when the same old problems arise again. Fear can act as a deterrent if it works, so I’m more than willing to play the villain if necessary.
Meanwhile, the Lizardmen visit once a year to offer me flowers and hold their own festivals, showing a harmonious side that’s rather heartwarming. Their punctuality in coming is quite adorable.
As for the spirits who lost their physical forms and scattered everywhere, they now spend their days like immature children, having forgotten what they once were.
It’s far too sad to call this the twilight of an age that was once dominated by dragons.
Other than that… I occasionally met six of the seven children who returned to natural phenomena, excluding Erebus.
Unlike Erebus, these children were accepting their mistakes.
Though, that doesn’t mean I’m returning their scales anytime soon.
If Erebus shows up, I might reconsider.
Ah, speaking of which, there’s one problem that arose.
Ultimately, the dinosaurs went extinct.
After their numbers drastically decreased during the Dragon Wars, and with dragons gone, dinosaurs were outcompeted by wyverns, drakes, sea serpents, and others. Eventually, they disappeared from my sight entirely.
Though some descendants survived in forms no longer recognizable as dinosaurs—like birds or various reptiles.
There might still be some alive in places beyond my vision, but since they’re no longer visible on land, extinction seems fitting.
It’s incredibly sorrowful, but there was nothing to be done about it. It was simply time to usher in the Age of Mammals. The Lizardmen survive thanks to their intelligence, though.
With only a few dragons left, the masters of the world have vanished.
Given this situation, it’s about time humans make their appearance. It’s time to pass the baton of the ages!
Still, mammals are currently at the stage where they’re just slightly larger mice, so there’s a long way to go yet.
—
Time flows swiftly.
I appointed the most mature dragon, the one all the others follow well, as the leader of the dragons—the Dragon Lord—and outsourced management duties to him.
This includes overall dragon supervision, egg incubation, communal child-rearing, and more.
I especially emphasized paying attention to egg incubation and communal child-rearing, so they should manage things well on their own.
Even if their scales are different colors, if they grow up together, there won’t be any wars where blood is spilled.
During this process, cases of dragons with different scale colors pairing up did occur, but it’s not particularly important.
It seems hybrids between differently colored dragons don’t result in mixed scales; they inherit the color of one parent, so there haven’t been any issues.
The natural environment is being maintained nicely by the children who returned to natural phenomena and the spirits.
Even though small spirits have forgotten who they are, they seem to remember their parents or feel familiar with their energy, following their guidance well.
Thanks to this, the small spirits wander the world under their parents’ direction, enriching it in ways I hadn’t anticipated—a pleasant surprise.
Meanwhile, the Lizardmen, the only intelligent beings besides dragons, appear to have grown in number significantly.
The farming techniques I casually taught them worked better than expected, and their population is rapidly increasing.
After tweaking a plant similar to corn and giving them something akin to soybeans to balance soil nutrients, they figured out crop rotation on their own, which made me proud.
And then, the great mammals…
“Ugk! Keeeek!”
They’ve become monkeys.
Well, it was inevitable, but hasn’t their evolution slowed down a bit? I understand that the more complex a lifeform is, the slower its evolution, but still…
On the bright side, signs of intelligence are beginning to sprout among these monkey-like mammals, as they’ve started using branches as tools.
Hmm. That’s quite positive. Continued tool use will likely lead to the development of their front limbs—hands—which could speed up their evolution.
One concern is whether the Lizardmen might hunt these primates, but differing living environments resolve that issue.
Since Lizardmen are cold-blooded and heavily influenced by their environment, unlike the large-bodied dinosaurs that minimized external impacts, the Lizardmen struggle in certain climates.
Thus, they haven’t spread throughout the world despite their physical strength.
By the way, I instructed them to stop making offerings to the Creator Dragon God.
I occasionally go into hibernation, and it would be disappointing for the Lizardmen to come during that time.
Also, due to environmental changes guided by the spirits, the Lizardmen moved their base elsewhere, so visiting me would be burdensome.
I’ll just accept their intentions in spirit.
In exchange, I taught the Lizardmen a bit of knowledge.
Not anything grand, just the ability to resonate with spirits, something other creatures besides dragons cannot even perceive.
Though the Lizardmen lack magical talent, their ability to interact with nature proved strong enough—or perhaps it’s because both dragons and Lizardmen share roots in dinosaurs—that they even developed shamanistic practices to borrow power from the spirits. Very encouraging.
But the important ones aren’t the Lizardmen, right?
“Keeek! Kik!!”
From afar, I watched the monkeys. They pick fruits, eat them, and playfully tease each other.
How much time will it take for these guys to establish a civilization?
It feels like it’ll take quite a while.
“Mom. Are you watching those hairy fellows again?”
“Hmm. I never get tired of watching them.”
Every action feels like slapstick comedy.
Their intermediate level of intelligence makes them amusing.
“The dragons were smarter…”
“Were they so smart that they waged war?”
“…”
Sylphid couldn’t respond.
She has sins to atone for, after all.
“Have you still not found Erebus?”
“Yes. The other kids are sulking in their spots, but Erebus isn’t in the original cave. Where could he have gone?”
A slight worry creeps into my mind.
What if that cunning kid causes trouble again?
—
Skipping ahead in time to observe the evolution of the monkeys.
Various types of monkeys emerge: some resembling gorillas, others like chimpanzees.
Evolution has no direction, but they’re diversifying wildly.
Not just monkeys, but other creatures are evolving similarly.
“Kyaaooong!!!”
“That’s noisy. You.”
I grab the head of a tiger-like creature charging at me.
A saber-toothed tiger? Its fangs are exceptionally long.
Mammals started as mouse-like creatures, so how are they evolving so rapidly?
Even though I’ve accelerated mutations and evolution, this feels a bit too drastic.
Perhaps I should apply some control once the biological evolution stabilizes.
“KyaaoOOOONG!!!”
This saber-toothed tiger is nibbling on my arm like it’s tickling.
I grab its neck and toss it aside lightly, and it flies off with a loud scream.
Cats usually land fine, so it should survive.
Right? Hmm.
Anyway, when will humans appear?
Watching random animals evolve everywhere is entertaining, but the truly important human hasn’t shown up yet, making it feel like a gacha game.
Where the desired character never comes up.
Bear-like creatures appear, horned horses, cows, elephants, and some monkeys that grew too big to live in trees start walking on the ground, beginning to resemble primitive humans.
Finally, the emergence of primitive humans after such a long wait!
Oh, wait. There are human-like monkeys appearing in at least three different places—I might have missed others.
More variety could be good.
These human-like monkeys scatter into forests, spreading in all directions.
What kind of changes will their footsteps bring? I harbor a small hope in my heart.
So, I began watching the world.
—
Many Ainu species deny this fact, but it’s clear that all Ainu species originate from humans.
Excluding dragons and Lizardmen, whose existence predates humans with clear evidence, the origins of other Ainu species lie in humanity.
Primitive humans adapted to various environments, evolving into numerous Ainu species.
Those who ventured into the forest with the World Tree became the ancestors of Elves, and those who climbed the tallest mountain became the ancestors of Dwarves.
Only humans maintain their purity among all the Ainu species!
Therefore! Humans must rule this world!
Only pure humans should dominate, excluding all other Ainu species!!!
—Speech by a Human Supremacist.
The Human Supremacist making this speech is arrested and dragged away by the guards.
