“It’s not as if it was murder,” he said. “Just. We’re in a position to hear a lot, you know. Some of the most influential Craftsmen and priests and decision-makers on the planet come to us to safeguard their souls against whatever coming doom they fear. We invested that idol’s soul in mining futures we knew were on the verge of collapse. She died. And so we saved the world. This world.” He rapped his desk with his knuckles. “Our world.”

“Until another god came along.”

“The second surprised us, but we knew what to do. Got the pilgrims to sign off on the trade, talked about exceptional risk and exceptional reward. So easy to convince people when they trust you.” He sat on the desk. The toes of his shoes scraped against the ground as his legs swung. “By the third time, we had a process in place. Not documented, of course. But a process.”

“We’ve waited since the wars for the gods to come back,” she said, and was surprised the words sounded so flat. Stone walls and statues ate the echoes of her voice. “And you’ve been killing them for years.”

“When you say it that way, it sounds bad.” He shook his head. “We’ve been saving the world. One death at a time.”

“And whenever someone found out, you invited them out for coffee, explained the situation. Those who agreed with you got paid off. What happened to those who didn’t?”

“Nobody disagreed.”

“I can’t believe that.”

“No one has. I present the choice, they weigh their options. Now, don’t mistake me: not everyone is happy. Monica, for example.” He sighed. “She couldn’t continue, after the third. She left—took a job at an Iskari soul haven. We decided—I decided, I guess, after that—to have the priests involved sign strict confidentiality agreements. Take their memories of what they’d been forced to do.”

“Which brings us to Mara,” she said.

“Of course, Mara. Delicate moral sensibilities, but a good soldier. Knew that what looked like a choice wasn’t. She wept, but she did the right thing. We let her choose the tools: her brother consults for the Shining Empire, you know, and he let the Helmsman’s plan slip. On the day the god was due to die, she stood watch poolside, knowing she’d soon forget it all. And then you jumped. Tried to undo the hardest choice of her life. I can’t imagine what she must have felt, watching you sink.”

“I spoiled the plan.”