I'm Not the God of Death's Proxy!

The next day, during the daytime, Cien and the group packed up their camp and moved to the side of the lake.

Cien squatted down, wanting to try dipping his hand again.

<I wouldn't do that if I were you.>

Fortunately, Fenrir's words stopped him. As before, for Cien, who didn't have Ice Magic, touching the water would only result in freezing.

Only Fenrir and Kirana could interact with the water.

"Beautiful yet deadly."

Murmured Cien, gazing at the serene and captivating surface of the lake. Unfortunately, the beauty on the outside masked the danger within.

Cien turned to his daughter, "Kiran, be careful."

Kirana nodded and began walking on the surface of the water, freezing it as she went.

When she reached the middle of the lake, she looked towards the faint light beneath.

Kirana felt the presence of the Heart of Ice, which felt very familiar to her. She was perplexed by her feelings.

It was the first time she saw the Heart of Ice, so the sense of familiarity was strange.

Kirana reasoned that perhaps her control over the ice element was interacting with the material below.

Putting her current thoughts aside, Kirana focused on retrieving the material. She didn't want to dive into the water, so she recited a magic spell, creating an ice pillar beneath the Heart of Ice and lifting it up in front of her.

Kirana could now carefully examine the Heart of Ice's form. It was quite sizable, about three basketballs combined, and shaped like a teardrop.

The Heart of Ice was colorless, pure and beautiful like a precious gem. Thin white mist surrounded it, adding to its elegance and mystical aura.

"Is this the Heart of Ice?"

Kirana murmured as she approached, gently touching the surface with her slender index finger.

As soon as her finger made contact with the Heart of Ice, it was coated in ice. Strangely, Kirana could still move her finger, and she didn't feel any coldness.

On the contrary, she felt warmth, as if the Heart of Ice was a part of herself.

Kirana was momentarily amazed. Then she picked up the material and hugged it before walking back to the lakeside.

When she arrived, Fenrir warned her.

<Don't let the Heart of Ice stay too far from you.>

Fenrir explained that if the Heart of Ice was not in contact with Kirana, the surroundings would drastically deteriorate, and her friends would begin to freeze.

Unconsciously, Kirana's body was absorbing the cold energy from the material, allowing her to carry the Heart of Ice wherever she went.

Cien, who heard all this, realized another problem.

What would happen to him and his shop? Could his shop contain the material without any adverse effects? And how would he be able to handle the Heart of Ice if even touching it was impossible?

'Ugh, I hope my shop is magical enough to suppress the effects of the Heart of Ice.'

Cien then turned to Fenrir, feeling curious about why Fenrir didn't take the Heart of Ice earlier, now that it could be harvested.

Fenrir's explanation clarified everything: he had already absorbed some of the power from the Heart of Ice.

When Cien arrived at the lake, Fenrir was in the process of healing his wounds using the energy he had absorbed. Hence, he returned the Heart of Ice to the lake to revitalize the energy he had taken from it.

The Heart of Ice in its unprocessed state is like the Mana Core. It could absorb energy from its surroundings.

The difference was that the Mana Core absorbed mana, while the Heart of Ice could only absorb cold energy from the coldest places in Kastia.

So, once it was taken away from the lake, the Heart of Ice couldn't absorb energy anymore.

This was similar to what Fenrir did hundreds of years ago.

He brought the Heart of Ice from the peak of Mount Lokoya because that place had already been exposed by humans.

With the Heart of Ice now in their possession, it was time to return to the shop or village. However, this time, the journey would be faster and easier, as Fenrir offered to carry them on his back and run swiftly to the village's location.

Fenrir possessed the [Might of King], making his presence intimidating to any monsters nearby, so their journey was completely unhindered.

It had taken Cien and the others over a week to reach the lake from the village. But with Fenrir's speed, the travel time was reduced to only two days.

When Cien and the group arrived at the village, the villagers instantly panicked because the first thing they saw was a giant white wolf monster.

Terrion and Reiss, who were resting at Yelina's eatery, drew their weapons and approached the monster, urging the villagers to run.

However, just as they were prepared to fight, Cien suddenly appeared behind the back of the giant wolf. He waved with a cheerful face, announcing that they had returned.

Seeing Cien, Kirana, Legia, and Ian return, all the villagers breathed a sigh of relief.

They had thought that a real monster was attacking, only to find out it was just the Shop Owner coming back.

"...Wait, what is this monster?!"

Mia, who approached, shivered as she looked at the presence of the wolf in front of her.

Cien and the others dismounted.

"He's Fenrir. From now on, he will be our village guardian."

"What are you saying? Somehow, I heard you mention the name Fenrir. Hahaha, I must be mistaken," Mia responded, not willing to believe her ears.

She looked at Cien with a pale face and trembling body.

"He is indeed Fenrir."

"Like the one from the legends?"

Cien nodded. Hearing this confirmation, Mia immediately fainted.

"Eh?"

Cien then looked at the other villagers, who had pale faces. Even Terrion was trembling. The loud cries of the children were heard.

"Ahhh~ I knew this would happen," Ian whispered.

"Well, I didn't expect it to be this bad," Cien replied.

Cien knew well that the figure of Fenrir had been portrayed as a terrifying legend.

A man-eating monster whose every step created corpses. It was a tale passed down from generation to generation as a warning to bad children, or Fenrir would hunt them down.

Cien had thought it was just a mere fable, not something that would become a real terror. It seemed he was mistaken.

Ian explained that Fenrir was not only a character from legends but also considered the God of Death.

Even during the recent Blackwinter War, many Huntara soldiers would calm their nerves by saying things like, "Our enemy is a demon, not Fenrir!"

Their courage would instantly increase because if they were facing Fenrir, they would surrender without raising their weapons.

Listening to this explanation, Cien fell silent.

It seemed that Fenrir's terror had permeated into the bones of the people in Huntara. Cien felt guilty for not informing them earlier about this with his cellphone.

He glanced at Fenrir, who seemed unfazed by the commotion around him.

'Demon is not as bad as Fenrir... I must admit, I agree. If his power returns, this wolf is truly something to be concerned about.'

Cien dryly laughed as he observed Fenrir.

<What are you laughing at?>

"Nothing. Do you know why the children are crying?"

<I don't care. Do you think I care?>

"Well, they're crying because of you."

<Huh, me? Why?>

"Because to them, you are the reaper of souls."

<Ha?! What kind of slander is this?! I am the Proxy of the Moon Goddess, not the Proxy of the God of Death!>

"...huh? The God of Death?"

Cien was taken aback, not understanding what he had just heard.

He had never heard of a God of Death before.

The gods worshiped in Kastia were the God of Creation, the Sun God, the Earth God, the Moon Goddess, the Sky Goddess (referred to as the Wind Goddess by Westyans), and the God of Darkness.

There were only six revered figures among the people. So, what was this God of Death?

Cien wanted to ask Fenrir about what he meant, but he saw the wolf had already left, heading towards the children and the villagers to announce that he was not a soul reaper but a Proxy under the Goddess of the Moon.

Fenrir believed he could calm them, but his actions only made the people more panicked.

Cien sighed with disappointment. "This is foolish. I don't have time for this."

He then instructed Ian to take care of Mia, who had fainted. He asked Reiss to calm the villagers and led Fenrir to the back of his shop.

He ordered Fenrir to stay there for a moment before entering the shop with Kirana.

Legia accompanied Reiss to explain Fenrir's situation to the villagers.

Cien guided Kirana to the storage room and introduced her to a magical cabinet, the Spawn Storage! It was a cabinet that could duplicate the materials placed inside.

"Father! Is this...?"

"Yup, this is what helped me negotiate with Fenrir. I promised to give him one of these every year as payment for being the village guardian."

"Hahaha, hearing it like this, Fenrir seems a bit deceived."

"Not really. The Heart of Ice is still a rare material."

Cien then explained that the cabinet could only duplicate the things inside it once a month.

Kirana then asked if her father would wait for a month before making the weapon.

"No, I'll make it as soon as I learn the recipe. We've registered the material now as the original one. So even if I cut it in half, it won't affect the duplication result next month. The duplication will be based on the original material when it was first placed inside."

Kirana felt relieved. Waiting for a month would be troublesome, as her vacation time will end and she has to return to Westya.

They both went back upstairs and saw Sella had returned to the shop counter. Her face was pale, and her eyes were swollen.

Sella said they understood the situation with Fenrir. They hadn't expected that the monster from the legends would be protecting them.

However, Sella felt that she and the villagers needed time to adapt to this fearsome figure.

Cien didn't mind and then explained that Fenrir was not actually a soul-reaping monster like in the legends.

On the contrary, he was an agent of the Moon Goddess herself, making Fenrir the closest figure to the Moon Goddess throughout Kastia.

"Is that true?"

"Yeah, Fenrir's task as the Goddess's agent is to convey her messages to her followers."

Cien didn't know how to explain about Proxies, so for now, he described Fenrir as an agent, a follower of the Goddess of the Moon.

'Hmmm, maybe I should start providing knowledge about Proxies in the village so that the villagers know the true identity of Fenrir.'

Cien thought about it. Information about Proxies was restricted in the kingdom, but their village wasn't bound by any kingdom's rules.

So it wouldn't be a problem to spread this forbidden knowledge here.