Chapter 24: The Dawn of Humanity (6)

Some time passed.

Humans, whose numbers continued to increase, spread throughout the world, and finally some humans arrived in the Lizardmen's territory.

Well, originally the place they met wasn't Lizardmen territory, but thanks to learning how to maintain body temperature with the fire I taught them, the Lizardmen were expanding their territory beyond their species' limits.

In the midst of this, after coming into contact with humans and learning of their existence, they were quite bewildered.

How must the Lizardmen have felt seeing creatures without scales or tails, covered in hair, but walking on two legs like themselves?

Perhaps thanks to me having met the Lizardmen in human form before, the Lizardmen didn't become hostile towards the humans.

Well, if they fought, the Lizardmen would win. Their robust bodies, compressed from the huge bodies of dinosaurs, possessed a powerful strength that the weak humans couldn't imitate.

Moreover, compared to humans who only used wooden sticks, Lizardmen warriors used very sharp weapons made of obsidian.

Really. It's fortunate that the Lizardmen have quite a benevolent nature. If a proper war had broken out, humans would have been massacred without being able to do anything.

Anyway, the humans and Lizardmen who met like this began to form relatively peaceful relationships, and progressed to the point of exchanging things they needed with each other.

Well, when it came to needed things, it was mostly the humans who were lacking.

Food? With their superior bodies, Lizardmen were natural hunters and rarely failed in hunting.

They had the strength to take down most predators alone, and could swim nimbly using their thick tails to catch fish with bare hands.

Thanks to this, Lizardmen never lacked food.

Moreover, if you consider that they were growing corn, beans, and pumpkins using the farming methods I taught them...

Rather than demanding, they would have given food to the humans.

In fact, they were showing movements to build friendly relationships by sharing food with humans.

In this way, as they made contact with humans, there were also signs of Lizardmen gradually teaching language to humans.

It was truly a moving scene to see humans, who had only made barbaric cries, learn from Lizardmen and begin to speak, albeit awkwardly.

After that, as a final gift, the Lizardmen taught humans how to make stone tools.

The method of sharply breaking stones to make hand axes that could be grasped in one hand. They were fully passing on the know-how that Lizardmen had acquired from handling obsidian and other stones for a long time.

Of course, due to physical spec differences, humans had some difficulties... While Lizardmen easily broke stones by striking one stone held in their hand against another, it wasn't easy for humans.

In addition, being able to make primitive ropes using grass and tie them to tree branches to make primitive axes or spears must have been a huge development for humans.

What the Lizardmen, who had given so much to humans, wanted from humans in return was obsidian and pure white flowers.

The Lizardmen had moved to survive due to sudden environmental changes, but it seems they had to abandon their existing obsidian quarry because they moved in a hurry.

Of course, they had some stockpiled obsidian, but... stockpiles are just stockpiles. If they don't increase, they'll eventually run out.

So, while expanding here and there to find new obsidian quarries, the Lizardmen met humans, but...

Humans, unrestrained by body temperature, should be able to search farther than Lizardmen.

As for the white flowers... Well, they said they lacked flowers for festivals or something.

No, I'm glad they still remember the white flowers they used to offer to me, but there's no need to hold festivals so forcefully... Hmm...

Should I tell the Lizardmen when I visit them next time? But I don't want to pour cold water on their festival.

I think I need to ponder this a bit.

Or, wouldn't it be solved if I just made a flower garden for the Lizardmen?

Well, let's think about it later. Later.

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The Festival of White Flowers is the most important festival for Lizardmen.

This festival, which honors the Creation God Dragon who gave treasures to Lizardmen in return for insignificant white flowers, and aims to wash away the sins of this world with white flowers so that the Creation God Dragon doesn't become angry, begins on the day that marks the start of a new year.

Streets filled with pure white flowers. The spectacle of pure white flowers carried by wind spirits creates an illusion as if you're walking in streets nestled in clouds.

How about welcoming the start of a new year with these pure white flowers?

- From a promotional pamphlet for the White Flower Festival.

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The development of humans continued rapidly.

Humans who kept developing, making stone tools, learning farming from Lizardmen and gradually imitating it, and so on.

By this time, humans had begun to do many things, such as meeting other human groups to exchange necessities, and sometimes engaging in minor fights.

I held in my hand a new gift to give to such humans.

A spinning tool for making thread, the spindle whorl, which was the first to appear.

And thread made using that spindle whorl, and a needle made of bone.

Lastly... a wooden fishing rod.

Honestly, the fishing rod is just a bonus! The main gifts are the thread and the spindle whorl for making thread.

As for fishing... humans were still in a state of throwing stone spears into the water to catch fish. I thought it might be about time they had fishing line.

I approached the human group I always visited.

A group much larger than when I first went. So many humans were living there that I wondered if they might run short of food.

"Keek? W-who?"

"Oh, now you can speak properly!"

A human speaking somewhat clumsily. Judging by the stone spear in his hand, he must be a human tasked with guard duty.

"I've come to find the leader of this group, so open the way."

"You are...!"

The guard looked at me and was greatly surprised, then bowed and said:

"Please, come in!"

A polite greeting. A movement that feels so intelligent it's as if the time when they were beasts was a distant past.

"I will, guide you."

"Good. Lead the way."

The guard led me along a path set among numerous pit houses, and I followed behind him.

Many humans were watching us as we went, but... Well, this happens every time I come, so I'm used to it now.

"That person is..."

"They've come again. Thank..."

Can they remember my face now? Well, I did come often.

The guard seemed to recognize my face too.

The place we arrived at following the guard's guidance was a hut completely different in shape from the other huts.

A large house situated on a small hill built up with earth.

Unlike the other conical huts, it was a large, properly built house with several large pillars erected.

This must be the house where the leader of this group lives.

I entered the house following the guard's guidance, and there I could see the figure of the leader sitting on a large rock.

"What's the mat... Gasp! You are!!"

A younger human, different from the leader I had seen before.

A human I vaguely remembered seeing before.

"W-welcome..."

"You... Were you the son of the previous leader?"

"Yes, I am."

I see, has the previous leader died of old age? Although we couldn't communicate well, he wasn't a bad fellow.

As living beings, they couldn't escape the constraints of lifespan.

"I am the new leader."

It's hard to gauge his age because of all the hair on his face, but... He looks to be about in his 30s.

But...

"Why are you wearing tree branches on your head?"

The new leader was wearing what looked like a crown made of tree branches on his head.

Is it a primitive crown? Or does it feel like a laurel wreath?

Wouldn't it be prickly to wear something like that on your head?

"This is, well..."

The leader took off the crown of branches he was wearing on his head, held it in his hand, and said:

"I wanted, to imitate."

"Imitate?"

Imitate... Is he perhaps talking about imitating me?

Is he wearing branches on his head like the horns on my head?

"As the new leader, other people... didn't listen well. When I imitated you, they listened."

Hmm. I see. So it's an imitation of me.

It seems there was resistance because he's the new leader. He seems to have used his head quite well.

But such a crown of branches doesn't look good, and the branches might prick and irritate the head...

That's right. Let's give one more gift.

I created a lump of pure silver using my power of creation, then began to change its shape using magic.

Let's see, for the shape, should I imitate a laurel wreath? Not too heavy, suitable for wearing on the head. So it doesn't slip down when worn on the head. Even adding magic so that the size changes to fit the wearer.

Adding appropriate decorations to symbolize authority and make it look splendid.

Somehow it felt like magic was seeping into the pure silver and changing it into something else... But that's not my business.

The object created in this way was a splendid silver crown.