Chapter 25: The Dawn of Humanity (7)

"What is that...?"

The leader's gaze is fixed on the crown in my hand.

A dazzling silver crown. It's natural, as it looks extraordinary at first glance.

I hook the created crown on my finger and spin it around, then toss it up and catch it again.

It's somewhat funny how the leader's eyes move in sync with the crown.

"Do you want this?"

"Yes...!"

The leader doesn't hide his desire for the crown. An honest display of desire. Even after learning language and forming a primitive society, that greed is still as honest as a beast's.

Well, I made it to give anyway, so it doesn't really matter.

Pure silver... No, looking closely now, it's in a state changed by magic. Anyway, for humans currently living in the Stone Age, this metal crown would be close to an out-of-place artifact they can't understand. It's natural for them to desire it.

That's why it will be even more valuable.

"Alright. I'll give you this crown."

"Really?"

"But, there's a condition."

I said with a faint smile on my lips.

"Lead the humans well from now on. That's the condition."

While the number of humans isn't too large yet, I could intervene and interfere, but if humans increase much more, I won't be able to pay attention to all humans.

If I entrust the task to a leader who will look after humans in my place, won't they do well on their own?

Just like how I dumped all dragon matters on the Dragon Lord.

"Is that all the condition is?"

"What do you mean 'is that all'? Do you know how difficult that is?"

Even dragons who inherited scales don't listen to me well, would humans be any different?

Creatures with strong egos tend not to listen well, which is troublesome. Hmm.

Ah, that's right. Should I cast magic on this crown to help with governing other humans?

Not too big a magic. Just moderately... A small effect shouldn't be a big problem... Something like increasing charm?

Even for increasing charm, not too dramatic an effect, just making people view the wearer of this crown a bit more positively, favorably. That should be appropriate.

Adding disease immunity and poison immunity to prevent untimely death... While I'm at it, should I add increased vitality too? If it works properly, it should have the effect of extending lifespan a bit...

Magic emanating from my hand seeps into the crown, imbuing it with magic. A weak charm magic that fascinates others' minds. Magic that completely excludes poison and disease...

Ah, this can't help with congenital diseases. It's a mechanism that records the basic state and reverts to that basic state if disease or poison is detected. For congenital diseases, having that disease is the basic state, so there's nothing that can be done.

Rather, if that disease is cured, it might revert to the basic state and the disease might appear again.

Well, surely such a case won't happen? It can't happen. Surely.

And magic that slightly increases vitality on top of that. It feels like it takes magic well, perhaps because it's silver changed by magic. Hmm.

I held the magic-imbued crown in my hand and examined it from various angles. The crown, emitting a faint light due to the imbued magic, looked like a precious object at a glance.

Hmm. Quite a good feeling.

Honestly, I could make it into a cheat item if I wanted to, but I'm making it with a light touch.

Just by wearing this crown on the head, it has an effect of slightly extending lifespan. It shouldn't be too great an effect, so it should be fine!

Let's summarize the magic used...

Automatic size adjustment.

Charm increase (small).

Poison immunity.

Disease immunity.

Vitality increase (small).

Is it like this?

Hmm... Is it okay to only increase charm and vitality a little? Should I add more?

No, this should be enough. There's no magic or anything yet. In this era, this level of magic should be sufficient. Surely.

To finish it off, let's add an automatic repair magic too. More precisely, it's time-related magic that reverts to a designated point if damaged.

A crown that increases others' favor, grants immunity to disease and poison, and increases vitality just by wearing it on the head. And it even automatically repairs if damaged.

It's just a small crown with small magics slapped on, but in this era where magic doesn't exist, this much should be enough.

"Take it."

I levitated the crown with magic and sent it in front of the leader.

"This crown will be proof of the promise I'm giving you. If you keep your promise to lead humans in the right direction, this crown will bestow blessings upon you."

A crown emitting a faint light. The human leader stared blankly at the crown and threw away the crown of branches he had been wearing on his head.

"If you don't lead humans in the right direction, that crown will leave your head. So be careful, very careful."

The crown settled exactly on his head.

As if it was where it was meant to be.

"Ooh... Ooooh!!"

The crown that settled on the leader's head gradually began to shine brighter.

It looked as if a halo was shining behind his head.

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The Crown of Immortality.

One of the symbols of the Empire's Emperor and one of the three divine artifacts possessed by humanity.

The date of creation is unknown. There's a theory that it was made right after the birth of humanity, but due to being made of pure mithril, magical dating is impossible, so it can't be confirmed.

It's natural, as it's a treasure of the Empire that has never been granted permission for dating in the first place.

It has primitive magic cast on it that protects the wearer's life from poison and disease and enhances the wearer's charm, and because it's made of pure mithril that enhances magic, its effects are maximized.

But more important than the magic cast on it is its symbolism.

It has been used as a symbol of power held by human kings since ancient times, to the extent that there's a legend that whoever gets their hands on this crown becomes the king of humans.

Its symbolism is so enormous that wars have broken out among those coveting this crown, which has complete immunity to charm, poison, and disease that can't be resisted without strong willpower, and even magic that increases lifespan, causing several kingdoms to disappear into the back pages of history.

Although there was a time when it disappeared from history, after the founder of the Empire overcame all sorts of hardships to find it again, it became a symbol of the Empire's Emperor and a national treasure of the Empire.

According to one theory, when you wear this crown on your head, the crown asks one question, and if you don't answer that question properly, you can't fully benefit from the crown's effects, and if you give a completely wrong answer, the crown tightens around your head and torments the wearer.

- From the Great Encyclopedia of Legendary Armor.

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Now that I've delivered the roughly made crown, let's get back to the main point.

The humans who are still just wrapping animal skins around themselves because they don't have thread are pitiful.

I held out a spindle whorl, thread, and a bone needle.

"This is a gift."

"What is this...?"

"It's a tool for weaving animal fur or plant fibers into thread like this. You can't keep living wrapped in animal skins forever, can you?"

Well, even as I say that, I'm still wrapped in pure white slime skin myself.

Hmm... I should properly make clothes sometime, but I don't have knowledge about sewing, which is troublesome.

I wonder if I could somehow manage if I look it up on the internet over there? I can create materials as much as I want...

Well, doing something is better than not doing anything.

"How do you use it?"

"This? You use it like this."

I took a branch from a pit house, trimmed it appropriately, and attached a spindle whorl to act as a weight.

Then I carve the back into a hook shape, weave animal down well, and spin the stick with the spindle whorl attached to weave thread.

Of course, because it's a primitive form, it's not super efficient, but for humans at the current Stone Age level, even this much should be a great help.

"If you weave like this, you can make thread like this. You can use this thread and needle to sew leather, use a fishing rod and hook to catch fish, and even make cloth by weaving the thread vertically and horizontally."

I levitate the thread in my hand with magic, then weave it this way and that in the air to create cloth.

The sight of thread intertwining to become cloth. The human leader just stared blankly at the sight of lines piling up to become a surface.

"Well, I'm not expecting you to do this from the start. For now, just focus on using the thread made with this in various ways. Making cloth comes after that."

You can't expect to fill your stomach with the first spoonful, can you?

Asking those who have no concept of thread to weave cloth is no different from asking a newborn baby who can't even crawl to run.

For now... It should be enough to just let them know that such things exist.

Moreover, this spindle whorl can be made by carving stone appropriately, or baking clay... Ah, come to think of it, did they not have pottery yet?

I thought pottery would appear soon since they have fire and can use tools. Hmm...

Well, they'll probably figure that out on their own. Surely I don't have to teach them every single thing?