The supply shortage in Britain was just as Naoki had imagined.
After all, the entire Isle of Britain was piled atop fairy corpses. The original continent had long been annihilated by Sefar. Naturally, no species from that world remained.
On this Isle of Britain, there were no living creatures Naoki recognized.
At least not yet.
"In the end, this is all I managed to harvest."
In a forest far from Londinium, Naoki leaned against a crate stuffed with edible plants, sighing softly.
After lunch with Aesc—who was inexplicably in a good mood—he'd gone hunting. Yet after nearly half the afternoon, this was his haul. Though he knew improving food supplies couldn't happen in a day, he was still shocked at how scarce Britain's wild resources were.
Not a single wild animal!
Sefar's execution back then wasn't just civilization's destruction—it was a mass extinction of all life on Earth! And the fairies had truly survived on fruits alone for over ten thousand years?
(Come to think of it, the "food" humans eat in Londinium is just ground grains mixed together. The proudest thing is wine… This world is truly steeped in despair in a way.)
Fairies didn't need to eat, so they never thought to make tasty food or seek edible options.
Humans were mere tools—infinitely producible parts. No need to give them good food. Discard the dead, produce new ones.
As a result of all this, Britain had become a food desert… No, an utterly undeveloped region. Not even edible meat!
"Sigh… Luckily, various grains still exist. Wild vegetables could be cultivated into agriculture. Going forward, I need to promote vegetables more."
"As for the most important meat…"
Even Imaginary Manifestation couldn't create animals from nothing. This was one of the few things Naoki couldn't do.
The Fairy Nation had originally become a Singularity. But Naoki figured it was likely due to Aesc burning the Fantasy Tree's Mana, turning the Lostbelt into a Singularity and connecting it to Pan-Human History—triggering the change.
This Lostbelt no longer had a Fantasy Tree.
"Haaah… I'll think of something else later. If that fails, I'll just make grains or something mimic meat texture. For now, I should bring these back."
Thinking this, Naoki patted the crate beside him. He lifted it with wind and flew into the sky with it.
At altitude, Naoki surveyed the Isle of Britain below. The first thing he saw was the massive hole in the island's center, far away.
"Cernunnos…"
The Celtic Horned God, poisoned by the six primordial fairies. His remains now lay deep in that great pit, continuously emanating a powerful curse.
In fact, the Calamities every hundred years and Great Calamities every thousand were results of Cernunnos's curse.
Poisoned by the six fairies, his shamans slain by them too, Cernunnos—furious and duty-bound—continued cursing the fairies to this day.
"A curse… Yet you still protect the fairies, Cernunnos."
Naoki knew that beneath the pit where Cernunnos lay—deeper still—lurked a greater disaster always seeking to destroy Britain: the Hellworm.
Or as it could be called, Vortigern.
In the Sixth Singularity, Naoki had faced a parallel Arthur-world Vortigern. It was Britain's self-destruct mechanism—born with Britain, the final individual fated to bring its ruin.
Naoki and Aesc's greatest enemy.
As long as they wanted to save this island, they absolutely could not let the Hellworm escape from the pit's depths. The most direct way was to keep Cernunnos's corpse pinning it down.
Or—
"Go destroy the Hellworm right now."
If the target was set as the curse-filled Cernunnos and Britain-destroying Hellworm, the Holy Sword should unleash at maximum power.
However… If Naoki remembered correctly, even a simultaneous strike from twelve Holy Swords forged by Altria Caster's sacrifice only managed to gouge a massive hole in Cernunnos's body.
Whether his sword could annihilate both Cernunnos and the Hellworm together was hard to say.
"Forget it. There shouldn't be issues now. No need to disrupt this stable situation."
With that thought, Naoki prepared to return to Londinium with the large crate—when a strange sensation suddenly came from afar.
It was farther than the great pit, from the north of Britain—a resonance-like feeling.
It wasn't strong—faint, even. Unnoticeable unless focused on. Had its intensity not suddenly spiked, Naoki wouldn't have sensed it.
"That direction, if I'm not mistaken… the Lake District?"
Focusing Mana into his eyes, drastically enhancing his vision, Naoki immediately saw the lake area near Britain's northern tip. Aside from the farther-north Orkney Isles, the Lake District was essentially Britain's northernmost point.
And speaking of the Lake District in this Fairy Nation, what came to mind was—
"The remnants of Dragon Albion, the Mirror Clan based there, and… the King Clan."
The sensation was too faint for Naoki to pinpoint exactly. From the direction, all three mentioned were possible.
After gazing at the distant north and back at his crate, Naoki sighed.
"I should bring these back first. I'll be here a long time anyway. I can go there sooner or later—but food in Londinium can't wait."
At the very least, for Aesc's sake, Naoki didn't want her reverting to livestock feed just because he was late.