Terms of the duel

"James!", "Miren!". The girls were running at us, both panicking over what was happening, although most people would have a hard time seeing it on Lindsey's face. Our gazes were still focused on one another, me not knowing what James would do, and James not wanting his prey to escape.

"What are you guys doing?!", Sarah screamed as she came closer, now starting to walk instead of running. When she was just two meters from us, James turned his head and spoke coldly, "Sarah, stay out of this."

Her eyes, which were already red from crying, winced as she recoiled from his cold words, "James, what do you..."

"I said stay out of it!". His teeth showed as he growled at her once again, this time making her fully back down, tears starting to form for the second time today.

Simultaneously, Lindsey had also made her way to us, but she chose another way to act. Taking out a silver rapier from her inventory and pointing it toward James.

"Step away from Miren", was all she said, as she awaited his response. The golden boy turned his body toward the knightess of ice. "So you are on his side now? Are you honestly taking the side of a killer?"

Lindsey didn't react to his taunts, instead, she repeated her words once more, "Step away from Miren, James. I don't know what happened between you two, but we are at the academy. You will get expelled if you continue."

His eyes turned dark. "Right, I forgot. It's only allowed to kill people outside the academy, right?"

Pieces of the puzzle quickly arranged themselves in my head, finally understanding what must've happened.

'Someone saw us as we got home yesterday...'

The only reasonable explanation was that someone had seen me, covered in blood, and Lindsey when we got back to the academy, and then talked to James about it.

That also explained why Sarah was so exasperated when I said that I had killed a person; they thought we went out to intentionally claim someone's life.

However, their thoughts were partly true. It couldn't be said to have been my intention, that I deliberately went out to slay humans, but I did kill a man.

Lindsey was the one to refute his words, "You don't know anything James, and I don't expect you to. Just know that whatever thoughts you have, they are incorrect." He just snorted at her and brought his own sword, just an ordinary steel greatsword, "So you are saying that Miren didn't kill someone yesterday?"

She went silent, not knowing how she could explain the situation in a way that would make James calm down. At the same time, she couldn't risk me getting hurt even more, so she stood her ground. Seeing the wordless girl, James continued, "Didn't think so. I also realize there might be more to it, but in the end; he is a killer. I don't understand why you are taking his side, but if you try to stop me..." He grabbed the sword in both hands and took a fighting position, a similar position to how one would wield a katana. "I will fight you."

This situation had already escalated too much for my taste, although I wasn't one to not enjoy a good old classic drama. However, it was one thing for me to get hurt, another if it meant Lindsey would get caught in the crossfire.

"Don't you think you should intervene now, master?"

Suddenly a gust of wind started blowing violently, forcing everyone to cover their eyes. When we opened them again an old white-haired man with a long beard had appeared. The principal was now standing right in front of me, between me and James, combing his beard with his fingers.

"Hohoho, little hare, I thought you had some kind of plan, but I guess I must have been mistaken.", the old dragon said with a smile. It wasn't a surprise to me that he was around, although I couldn't determine his exact position, I had spent enough time experiencing his mana when he had assisted in opening my inner channels making it so I could to some degree sense his presence.

He had been around for at least a couple of minutes now, probably keeping his status as a spectator for as long as possible, thinking I might be able to solve this on my own. Unfortunately, no matter how I chose to act, it would most likely end badly.

When the other students noticed who had arrived, they all bowed to show their respects. Even James, who I thought had completely snapped, lowered his head. "No need to lower your heads, younglings. Now, we do have a principle at the academy that we should let students settle their own disputes, but this is not the way to do so, is it?"

My master locked his sight on the golden boy, who started getting cold sweats as he realized what he had done. Violence wasn't something completely foreign to the academy, but if you got caught while exercising it, you would almost always get expelled. Knowing he had fucked up, he apologized profusely, "I'm so sorry! I lost my cool and then..."

The principal just waved his hand at his desperate pleads. "As I said, students should settle their own scores, after all, in the eyes of society, you are already adults. As the principal of Kirkegaard, I should expel you right here and now."

James's eyes shook. Getting expelled would destroy all of his ambitions. The revival of his family and his dream become a protector of the weak, to change the prejudiced society where the strong ruled. There was nothing to be done, he knew he couldn't go back in time, "I understand. I will.."

"However...", the principal interjected before James could finish what he was about to say, "as the official master of Miren, I don't want to do so. It's unworthy of me to expel someone just because my disciple asked for help. Therefore I want you two to settle whatever this is with your duel, no matter what is going on."

First, he studied the shocked expression of James, and then looked towards me, who forced myself to get up on my feet, the taste of metal still present on my tongue, "So Miren, are you willing to attach conditions to the duel?"

Students could in rare cases make a sort of bet as they dueled each other, adding terms, most often involving either money or some other material thing, but it was also possible to, for example, force a student to leave the academy. Of course, they had to accept the terms beforehand.

I knew that the reason he put his eyes on me as he made the proposal was to gauge whether or not I wanted James to get expelled or not. If I did not want it, I would accept this proposal and just demand something else.

"I am." The golden boy's face lit up with shock, not expecting me to give him a chance to stay after what he had done. After this incident, I could confidently say that I truly disliked the immature kid.

'If I have a bit of a problem with my temper, then he needs to see a therapist...'

Granted, a lot of this situation had been the outcome of my poor choice of words as I talked to Sarah, so it wasn't entirely fair to put all the blame on James, even though he had acted like a complete lunatic.

My master kept his gentle smile as he turned his gaze back to the other man in question, "So James, do you accept to go through with the duel with added conditions?"

The young man had already managed to collect himself again, "Yes. I accept."

The principal nodded a bit before he continued speaking, "Then as per tradition, the one to be challenged will first state his condition."

Although I already knew what I wanted to happen if I won, it was hard for James to suddenly come up with a reasonable demand. I had already saved him from certain expulsion, so he wouldn't lower himself to force me to leave the academy if he won either.

A couple of seconds later, he had found his answer. "If I win I want Miren to never kill a human again and I want his signature stated on a grade 8 mana contract."

For anyone else, this could have been a reasonable demand. That was, regrettably, not the case for me. The mana contract would actively stop my body from moving if I acted with the intention to kill another human, meaning I could never fight a person again as it was the basis of how I did battle.

My head got heavy as I heard his demand, but I kept my poker face on, not wanting to show weakness in front of my enemy. "Miren, do you accept the condition?", my master asked me. With a nod, I acknowledged the terms. "Then Miren, what is your demand if you win the duel?"

"I want James to sign a mana contract that he will never fight me again, no matter what the situation."