I was challenging him, so you could say that every time he did so it was an act of self-defence. Though he would not. That would require that I was a threat to him, and not just a nuisance he was trying to get rid of.

[There's an unusual lightness to his tone, somehow stiff and unnatural, as though he's trying to sound humourous but doesn't quite know how. He pauses a moment, and quickly abandons the attempt with a shake of his head.]

It was simply a case of trusting that he would not... make it permanent, despite being aware of his kill count. And despite him being aware of my own.

[And while he says simply, the fact is that it was anything but. Trust was never something that came easily to him.]