The King of Heroes: Null/Virtue

Declarations

A/N: This is a stupidly long chapter. It's all talking and politics and making trade deals. I could've broken it up into multiple chapters, but honestly nothing much would change. This chapter would start and end with them at the table and the next chapter would at least start with them at the table. For those who like this stuff will be very happy... everyone else might be bored, which is another reason I figured I'd keep it all in one chapter. That way those who didn't like this one have something to look forward to the next time I post. I did my best to make some interesting trades and plot points, but this is just an advance apology for those who are not a fan of chapters like this. Finally, not all nations and speakers get a spotlight, there's just not enough interesting stuff to go around, so I condensed some of the stuff towards the end. With all that said, I hope you enjoy!

*******

"So... you wanna talk about it?" Izuku asked with a smirk as Himiko came trudging back into the arena chambers.

"You don't seem mad... is that a bad thing?" She responded.

"Oh I certainly think it was a terrible decision to try and kill another Lord in this setting but..." Izuku sighed. "Himiko, you are an Onyx through and through. I can voice my disapproval all I want, but I'm not your father, and you are your own Lord. You can seek my advice all you want, but once something is done?" Izuku shrugged. "Too much control is unhealthy. I'm just glad everything turned out okay."

Himiko gave an awkward smile in return. "Yeah, I wanna talk about it when we get home."

Izuku nodded. "Now, where were we?"

*******

"Given a request from our new and venerated guest," Anna said, carefully glancing at the Kaiju Lord's eye in the wall, "We will not be concerning ourselves too greatly with speaking order from here on out. As such, the current standings of Lords will be used for the remainder of the Summit's speaking time. Following that, the order of non-Lord speaking members will be decided by the usual dice roll."

She pulled out a 10-sided die - an artifact of the Tower - to which the entire Summit grinned at. Apparently watching non-Lord speakers roll for turn order was quite the enjoyable experience.

"Finally, we will have an open-forum. The forum has a maximum time duration of 10 hours, but can be closed early by unanimous vote." Anna paused, but heard no dissension. Not even the arrogant Lords were brave enough to challenge the order and rules in front of the Kaiju Lord.

"Then the floor passes to Himiko Toga Bolorous," Anna announced before sitting down.

Izuku looked over with bated breath. There were several topics he would address on behalf of Draxia as its King, but Himiko had none of those responsibilities. Which meant that anything she said now was her own motives and design. He had absolutely no idea what she would say, given that he hadn't looked too deeply into this moment in time. He wanted to be surprised every once in a while, otherwise there was no enjoyment to be had.

"I want the small Faded settlement of Riia and its inhabitants, which rests against the Draxian border, and lies to the south in the Tower of God neutral zone, to become fully recognized territory under my name. The small lands will be governed by me, and upon my death, will become fully integrated with Draxia."

Izuku suppressed a bark of laughter. Not to humiliate Himiko's request, but in praise of its boldness. She was going to make Uraraka's home town a fully recognized territory. With that, she could develop it through the Council, who would be delighted to have even just a bit of extra territory to their name. And knowing Izuku, he would support her request.

"May I ask... why?" The Kaiju Lord was the first to speak.

Izuku watched Himiko weigh her honesty. If she told the truth, people might see it as a weakness. If she lied, she might be seen as a territory hungry warlord.