A long, gratitude filled speech of Great Spirit God Easley echoed in the room for a while. 

In his heart, Allen couldn't have wished anymore for it to end soon, hoping the ceremony would wrap up. And, seemingly capable of reading his inner thoughts, both the Great Spirit God and God of Harvest would ever so often glance at him and exhale a sigh.

«*Giggle*...»

Amidst the speech, the child, still floating in his baby carriage, waved his hands eagerly, trying to reach the distant Great Spirit God.

"Homaru-sama, please calm down for just a moment." 

The queen, the mother of First Angel, tried to put a respectful approach against Homaru—he was practically an existence above them, having been conferred the name and authority by higher god God of Harvest, and with the prospect to serve them later down the line—though her hands gently patted him. 

(Well, being First Angel is practically the same as having an infinite lifespan, becoming an existence just second to the gods.)

It had been 100,000 years since Merus lost his life against Kyubel of Demon King Army, nevertheless a glance at Lupto, his twin sister, and it was obvious she had never seen the weathering of time. 

With no way out of the situation for the time being, Allen's mind veered to thinking what he would have done if he had been born with a never ending lifespan. 

«I had heard that even the Paradise of Primordial Beasts, located far in distance from here, was overflowing with spirit beasts, nevertheless, the dragonkins wade through desolate lands, each filled with their own hardship, and worked alongside the beastmen to subjugate the spirit beasts, holding firmly to their spears. Is it correct?»

The details pertaining to Nesitrad or other spirit beasts in the Heavenly Sandal Kingdom were clear, so the Great Spirit God affirmed the details about the primordial garden. 

«Undoubtedly. They did a terrific work tackling spirit beasts infested regions alongside the beastmen. They also seemed to have contributed some precious resources to the people of the divine realm gathered from paradise.»

(Oh, it'd be nice to touch on the trade aspect. It's the perfect time to return the favour to everyone who had our wool by collecting all those spirit stones!)

Beast God Gran was one of the gods Allen had asked the Great Spirit God to invite. 

Spirit stones were one of the cornerstones, if not the main axel, for Allen in his pursuit of strength. The spiritual power recovery rings, almost a strategic item, were a mainstay in their battle against the Demon King Army, something he had exchanged with faith points after converting several hundreds of thousands to even millions of spirit stones.

The results were evident, like their conquest of Earth Labyrinth, or the subjugation of Nestirad, whom he was sure the rings played a pivotal role.

He had always wanted to display his gratitude to the said crowd, but didn't know how. The crux was the size of the crowd. There'd been too many people—no less than in hundreds of thousands, and even hundreds of millions by taking dragonkin in account—which made it impossible to personally visit them. And the expense would definitely skyrocket to the level of several academy city projects. 

He could move the entirety of his army to deal, and use the precious resources that would easily go around at 100 times of their price in the Divine Realm, but even then, it was a question if he could amass the finance to achieve his wish.

So he thought if not the riches, then maybe status should be so. Besides, dragonkins obviously were extremely influenced with their standing and roles. 

So, after learning about the Soul Rite Festival, Allen brought that topic to the Great Spirit God. 

Meanwhile, Beast King Gran silently animated a pressure toward Heavenly King as he heard of details. The resources in the Paradise of Spirit Beasts were something that belonged to everyone. So, as far as the records goes, they'd not inquired at least his permission about the resources.

"I-It's not a contribution as in offering per se. We have strictly maintained the business, not to take their effort for granted. Is that not the case, Count Epitani?!"

The Heavenly King was like he was sitting on a pin cushion, and hastily pulled Epitani, the prominent noble among others to have a spot at the frontline, for support.

"Huh—ah, yes. His Majesty is correct.We are purchasing at a fair price—no, a very reasonable price!!"

(Peromas did they say they're getting their asked price, eh.)

Allen had no time to waste on lengthy negotiations, not even every moment counts and was in need of faith points to aid his comrade in their trials, or to fight against the Demon King Army.

Even when it came to buying materials, he knew that for the development of the academy cities, money was urgently required. While he could afford to lose a bit in the negotiations, he had to prioritize time above all else.

The noble, high-ranking merchant of the Divine Realm, Count Epitani, had been handling all the trades for materials harvested from the beast paradise. Driven by the desire to protect certain industries and artisans, he had imposed high tariffs and complicated deals, and resolving issues on this side would have taken Allen and others too much time, something they couldn't afford to do.

So, to ensure their advancement never stops, Allen had reluctantly allowed for some of the price to be compromised.

«Ah, I see, a reasonable price, but while that’s fine for me, have you obtained permission from Lord Garm, the ruler of Paradise of Primordial Beasts, to collect these materials?»

"Huh? Ah, that's, err..."

The Paradise of Primordial Beasts, while being the same floating vast land like Heavenly Sandal Kingdom, was a wasteland. They lacked lush vegetation, but in contrast, whatever they'd was a treasure trove for the people of Divine Realm. 

«I'm not trying to press on the matter. I am affirming if you do realise the blessing granted to you. So, do you?»

"O-of course! I can't express my gratitude enough for Great Garm-sama, and Gran-sama!!"

But it appeared this wasn't the answer the Great Spirit God was seeking. 

«…I can read minds. And right now is the pious moment to put our prayer. I would appreciate it if you could answer just one question clearly; You have not neglected the Dragonkin or Beastkin, who have achieved such remarkable results, and you will not neglect them in the future, correct?»

Great Spirit God decided to bring out the heart of the matter when the reply was subpar. 

The atmosphere in the hall shifted as he showed a firm stance on his matter; one where he only wanted to hear only the truth.

"Hey, Allen-dono. What is the meaning of this?" Abigail inquired Allen, failing to comprehend the situation.

"Just watch for now, Abigail-san. It's an important moment that will decide the future trend.»

"What I said is ironclad. Dragonkins, the hunters of spirit beasts, are the pride of the Divine Realm. It's by virtue of them we could give birth to an angel that will serve the gods, and why we can now support not only the Divine Realm, but also the Human Realm. I, Mephisto Do Sandal, swear on this as the representative of people of the Divine Realm."

The Heavenly King took a vow on his name, and amidst the presence of two pillars of god, and four great elemental gods, put a firm status to the dragonkins.

«Understood. The realm of man should be governed by man, so let us trust in the words of the Heavenly King. Well, then let us proceed to the reward ceremony.»

"Understood! Announcement: The subjugators of the Nestirad is a party led by Allen-dono. Allen-dono also had been the one to bestow the spirit crystal to His Majesty Mephisto, which became the catalyst to conceive First Angel Homaru-sama, striking yet another monumental achievement in the history of mankind. The Great Spirit God shall now confer the due reward. Step forward, Allen-dono!"

Chancelor Jigen moves onward with the event, iterating the achievement, albeit his tone hardening at the end of his speech. He must have realised dragonkin was completely left out of the loop of the rewards, but it seemed he was determined to push forward with the ceremony as planned.

(The ceremony is proceeding just as Jigen had said huh. Abigail, and dragonkins, were never included in the rewards after all. And it's true it was us who defeated Nestirad.)

Allen had received the event order of today's ceremony from Jigen before the Soul Rite Festival kicked off, briefing him on how to ask for the appropriate reward.

"...The reward, you say?"

«Hmm?»

Great Spirit God's showed a subtle reaction as Allen put a puzzled pretense, as if everything was too sudden for him. But he kept quiet as Allen had informed him about his plan.

"Hey, didn't I explain it already?! You need to ask for the reward!!"

Of course, Jigen, the facilitator, got a bit flustered as he whispered urgently to Allen, while his back faced Great Spirit God.

"...I apologise. But I can not receive this reward."

"W-wait, this wasn’t the prepositioned response!"

Heavenly King, who had been kneeling ahead of Allen, suddenly stood up and turned his back to the gods, and stared at Allen.

«What may be the matter, Heavenly King?»

"Ah, err, nothing..."

But he obviously couldn't press on further, and ultimately kneltagain. 

«You are... rejecting the reward? But Allen-san, I believe you are fighting against the Demon King’s army, a great threat to the land. Is it because my reward wouldn't be on par?’

"I’m terribly sorry. It's not that I'm refusing in an ungrateful way, or that I don't need your reward, but I have already been promised a reward from the Goddess of Magic."

«Hmm? ...Ah, so that's how it is. If I am not wrong, it was originally to obtain the reward from the Magic Goddess you'd been targeting Nestirad, is this correct?»

Great Spirit God paraphrased the conversation as they'd planned earlier.

"It is so. I can see the war against the Demon King Army would only continue to intensify, and I can't afford to split my rewards. The reward from Magic God may become a key to unlock the strong magic for our comrade." 

«...That is a reasonable choice. But that aside, this would be a dark spot in the almost eternal history of the Divine Realm that we, the gods, failed in properly rewarding the brave ones that hunted down incarnations of disaster.»

"Well, then bringing out earlier discussion, how about the rewards may be in the name of dragonkin and beastkin who had contributed much to our cause? I believe they'd played just as much of a strategic role in as much as we'd to bring down Nestirad."

«That is a well-reasoned proposal. Well, err, your name was Abigail, yes?»

"Me?!"

«Yes, indeed. To conclude this ceremony, I believe it would be fitting to honor your bravery and give you a reward. Gran-san also acknowledges the contributions of the dragonkin and beastkin.»

"Reward... but this is a bit sudden..."

The sudden shift in the conversation left Abigail perplexed. So far, he had thought of himself to be a filler to fill the seat, and received no such explanation from Jigen.

"I agree. It would be a joy for our Heavenly Kingdom if dragonkins, who'd built ties of friendship with us, get their proper rewards."

Heavenly King chimed in, and side-stepped, leaving a path for Abigail to appear in front of the Throne. 

With confusion as if he was being deliberately pushed forward filling him, though Great Spirit God himself had been the one to talk about reward, Abigail stood in front of the gods.

"Err, pardon me."

With nearly the entirety of his brain occupied in trying to comprehend the situation, Abigail excused himself to take a stand in front of gods, and once again knelt down when he was right in front of the throne.

«It's a reward without any restriction. Name whatever you desire.»

Saving Homaru, who had no inkling about the situation, everyone's attention swarmed at Abigail to hear the rewards he would seek.

(Finally, everyone's getting rewarded for their due effort.)

After having been refused to receive the commendation for defeating Nestirad, Allen finally heaved a relieved sigh that Abigail and dragonkin finally received their due respect.

"T-Then, if I may..."

«Indeed, go on. This is an achievement that will be left in history after all.»

"Well, I would like to request a weight, something that will allow us to continue hunting spirit beasts in the future.»

Abigail presented his desire for a weapon that would allow them to persist on their task.