"I'm not Christian, and none of these men are holy," Mizu replies. She doesn't know anything about their religion, but it's only one of many topics she hasn't cared about. "They are opium traders, gun importers, and flesh traders. Fowler is known for his foul tastes, and if you believe him, he's not half as bad as Skeffington or Routely."

His credibility is low, but it isn't hard to believe the worst of any of these men.

"They're poison, and one of them has put a bounty on me all my life. They deserve to die." Her tone gets hard edged with fire behind it. She sees the hut burning in the forest. Even knowing that her mother—her nurse maid? she doesn't know which—didn't die there, she cannot forgive it. Years later, years of living in that house, and leaving just once was enough to see it destroyed.