The King of Heroes: Null/Virtue

Paternal

"Treason is an incredibly serious remark to make, my Lord," Mirai cautioned Izuku.

"I'm well aware," Izuku responded. "But I'd be a terrible King if I was too afraid to call out corruption. Nine has been receiving payments from Mirrim in exchange for information. He has a 'slave' named Slice, but she's almost never here. She attends to the Eternal Lord in Nine's place, relaying our secrets."

Kaya Nine Nyx, to his credit, played off the accusation well. Offense, but not fear. Confident, but also surprised. His long hair and gentle features gave him an air of calm, even though he was a warrior like anyone else there.

"And, if I may, my Lord?" Nine asked. "How did you come to this conclusion?"

Izuku smirked. This was a project Haneyama had been working on. Even without prescience, he would've gotten to the bottom of this. "4 months ago, you received a 'gift.' A package delivered by a courier that originated from Mirrim. Inside the package, there was an Elite-Class Item, called a Purity Detector. These are only manufactured by Mirrim." Momo handed out another file as Izuku continued. "Now, you could say that you got one out of interest for their science, which I would respect, they have quite the assortment of oddities after all. Unfortunately for you, I intercepted the accompanying Magical transmission with Light Magic. You've been using one of Mirrims specialized communicators. And your latest request was to sample genetic material from the strongest Onyx, and the Lords if you could. Why do you need that information?"

Nine scoffed. "So, an Item that comes from an interest in science, and a message only you intercepted? That proves nothing."

"So the Item was all you received from Mirrim?" Izuku asked nonchalantly.

It was almost invisible, but Nine briefly froze up. If he said "no" and tried to explain what he received, it would make him look blatantly corrupt in front of the rest of the council. Sure, plenty of the council was also corrupt, but they weren't being exposed like this. If he said "yes" and Izuku actually knew about the rest of the shipments he received, he was fucked.

Nine shrugged. "I'm on favorable terms with some of the border guards, and I have traded materials and money for scientific intrigues."

"And yet you never shared these scientific findings with the council?" Izuku looked around at the other politicians, but no one spoke up. "No one has seen any of these devices?" Again, the room was silent.

"I will admit it looks... uncouth, but that is exactly why I concealed it. I was afraid to be punished for my passion projects!" His cry was filled with genuine emotion, but it was genuine fear, not passion.

"I understand. If there's a logical explanation, and you were merely hiding your passion, I will gladly excuse it. Let's ignore the intercepted communications for now, as you said it's not concrete proof. I understand the fear of secrets. So, scientific intrigue? That was all? You never gave state secrets to Mirrim? You never received pay-offs for other goods?" Now, Izuku had the entire room staring intently at Nine. Even Chisaki was on his side. He was very much pro-Draxia, so he could get behind hanging a traitor. A nationalist could be either a danger to Izuku, or a tool.

"I gave them money and raw materials, that is all!" He insisted.

Izuku calmly nodded. "You made the equivalent of 213 Luster coins in the past month. Your government salary does not account for it, nor would any sort of extracurricular activities like mercenary work. So, where did it come from?"

"My house's money is of no concern to-"

"Do not speak of the King that way," Mirai sharply criticized. "He is well within his rights to investigate such irregularities."