Battler accepts Gretel's first offer. (Pink Trigger, Favors -1)

Battler continued to stare at Gretel's overcoat, as if picturing the body he alone had seen. "I mean... Even if it's a trap, I could still pay at least one of these 'favor' things, right? I wouldn't be all the way in the trap. I could still walk out without doing anything with that blonde witch and some unknown amount of money... And I'd get to see your dance, right?"

"You perverted moron!" Gretel shouted at him with a harsh voice, but a frightened face. "If you choose this, I'll never respect you again!"

"'Again?'" Battler asked, crossing his arms in his seat, then putting one hand to his chin. "Do we know each other? Was I someone you respected before? The way I've lived, that's kinda hard to believe!"

"Careful, Gretel," Beatrice reminded her with a broad grin.

"Tch... This is ridiculous." Gretel began pulling off the purple ribbon at her chest with her teeth clenched and red in her cheeks. "I can't believe either of you! When I imagined what the two of you were up to here, it was never anything like this... I can't believe you're making me a part of it, either! Now I get it, though. Yeah, I get it!" Very slowly, she began to draw her arms apart, seeming to grow slower and slower as she got nearer to revealing anything. "You're a pea-brained jerk who can only think with his dick! Now it makes perfect sense why you never got to leave here...!"

"Sheesh!" Battler shouted, starting to look a little offended, himself. "I'm not the one who asked for this game. That was you and your buddy! I dunno if all this groaning and moaning is supposed to be part of your performance, but I'm not the kinda guy who gets off on being chewed out, all right? You've gotta be gentle, or you'll hurt my feelings, ihi-"

Before Battler could give another of his stupid laughs, Gretel pointed one of her shoes straight at his throat. In doing so, she let her overcoat fall open, revealing most of her lower body. She had on a white, button-up dress shirt which fell to about her hips, but not quite far enough to obscure a dark green bottom she was wearing. It looked more like a bikini than lingerie, although it had a racy design and was almost more white frill than cloth. She remained frozen in that pose, her shapely legs on full display, as though she would stab Battler's windpipe with her toes if he kept running his mouth. "I-is this what's important to you? You're just head over heels for cute girls, huh, Battler? Well, you're gonna shut up for a second and listen to every word I have to say."

The young man gulped and nodded to show his understanding, sinking back into his seat slightly as his eyes locked onto the witch's womanly hips and the bikini straps slightly indenting her soft body.

"You chose the dumb option. That means if you want to defeat that witch and escape here, you're going to have to go through all three rounds. Do you understand? You need to give me all three of those cards, or you're falling into her trap. It'd be easiest if you just give me all three now-"

I raised my voice to interrupt. I reminded Gretel that according to the terms of my game, she had to offer an escalating dance for each favor given. Otherwise, the game wasn't going anywhere.

"You mean it's the same as a total forfeit?" The red-headed witch held her pose, but turned her head to me with a small smirk. "He returns all of the favors and she doesn't become a witch?"

... Shit. This witch actually seemed pretty good at quickly understanding the rules of this game. It would be easier if Beatrice was stringing her along with a favor, but there was nothing she wanted, other than the results of this game itself... I decided to make up a bluff. I told Gretel that if she didn't proceed at all, we'd just find some minion of the witch that would. The game would proceed without her. Now was the only chance she had to act as an ally of the humans.

Gretel let out a deep sigh. "No, I guess it wouldn't be that easy. Seems like these witches always make things a big, complicated mess... All right. Start the music. Battler... I'll play by the rules of this game, but you have to make the right choice. No matter what happens, you have to give me all three cards and go all the way to the end! Don't give that witch an inch, and don't stop thinking of her as your opponent."

"Instead of that, maybe you should think about acting a little more friendly?" Battler suggested with another cheeky, incorrigible grin. I pressed the button to start the rap song on the boombox. This wasn't something the Battler of this year had likely ever heard, but I thought it did a good job of setting the mood.

"Yeah, friendly. Right. Unlike those witches, I don't play around. If it's come to this... I've come prepared. If I have to, I'll do what it takes to convince you to spend all of your money on me, idiot. Just like a high class girlfriend you have to win over with gifts..." With her perpetual, small frown and brow furrowed in offense, Gretel slid the overcoat off her shoulders, leaving her standing in her hair ties, long-sleeved shirt, bottom, socks, and shoes. The relative state of dress of her top half called even more attention to the indecent state of her hips. As she grabbed the pole, I could see she was very aware that all the eyes in the room were focused on them. She took a slow walk around the platform, possibly to show off her body, possibly to gather her courage.

"This truly is an amazing event, Battler!" Beatrice spoke up from the side, looking like even she was surprised Gretel was going through with it. "You know, I had planned to offer whatever minion helped me with this task a generous reward born from my magic, whatever they asked. This young witch denied me, claiming she desired no reward for her performance. That impudence was truly amusing to me... However, in another manner of thinking, perhaps we can assume she simply thought dancing for you was its own reward? Tsundere, tsundere, kyehehehaaa!"

I understood that, evidently, Gretel was a witch who'd gone through a great deal of teasing during her life as a human. Oddly, many witches seemed to have sad backstories like that. It seemed whatever teasing she had endured before was nowhere near enough to prepare her for this, however. Battler was probably getting an eye-full of her pale, half-naked ass as she clung to the pole and bent her knees to slide her hips from side to side with practice. From my view, however, I could see how she'd wrenched her eyes shut, her face almost as red as her hair and twisted into a mask of shame.

Since she didn't defend herself, Battler spoke up. "Hey, if I got it right, Gretel's doing this for my benefit. It's pretty damn obvious she doesn't want to, but she's trying her hardest! If that's how it is, I'll appreciate your effort and tune out this blonde witch!" He cupped his hands to his mouth and shouted to the stage. "Hey, hey, good work, Gretel! Nice ass! The way you shake it drives me crazy-!"

"S-shut up! Idiot! Moron!" Gretel instantly turned on him, her face somehow turning even redder as she growled. "Why do you think I'd want to hear that as your s-" She stopped, scowling like she'd bitten her tongue. "S-s-stripper? K-keep your dumb commentary to yourself!" Even as she chewed him out, she continued bouncing her round butt from side to side. If he was a little distracted from the shame on her face, I could hardly blame him.

Beatrice cackled, her blue eyes sneering at her fellow witch who, presumably, had given her dance lessons earlier in the day. "Okay, Battler. That's probably enough for the first dance. By this, you probably have a good idea of the premise. Who knows what could be waiting for you in the second game? Gretel said you had to go all the way to the third round with her, but there's no rule like that! Maybe something really exciting is waiting for you elsewhere, huuuh?!"

"If you stop at this first round, I'm never forgiving you!" Gretel shot him another **** glare from beneath her straight bangs. "If you don't continue, you can stay in that chair until you die, for all I care!"

"Ho... Well, Gretel seems sufficiently motivated without my help, but I am still remiss for not offering her a reward when she performed so skillfully for your that first favor." Beatrice crossed her arms, nodding as though she was appreciative, but smiling with bad intentions. "Therefore, I am willing to grant her the strange request she made earlier, although I found it most strange indeed. What to do with the modern youth, I wonder...?"

"What are you talking about?" Gretel asked the question, but I was just as confused.

"You know! You made that weird request to me! 'Can you make it so he has to call me Little Sis, and I get to call him Big Bro?'" Beatrice had a bit of color in her cheeks, but I thought that was more from restraining a laugh than any actual embarrassment. "Originally, I had denied that request. 'No,' I told her, 'That is far too strange a contract between you and a man you are performing an erotic dance for!' She was awfully insistent, however... Ah, the youth of this age are truly twisted, hehehe!!"

Gretel looked at her with wide eyes, her jaw dropped open in an uncharacteristically uncool expression. "H-hey! That's cheating, isn't it?! B-besides, I never asked you for anything like that at all!"

"Oh...? So you deny it now? Still, I am happy to grant that wish for you, which you now deny having made, tsuuun~! What a fascinatingly scandalous and kinky tsundere witch, kyehehehehe!!"

Battler gave Gretel a smile with a bit of concern in it. "'Little Sis,' huh?"

"Why do you believe her?!" Gretel actually released the pole to kneel on the stage and grab the lapels of his jacket now, shaking his large body. "Don't let her confuse you, just give me the damn card!"

"But it's a heckuva lotta money too, ain't iiit?!" Battler shouted in a goofy voice as he shook back and forth.

"Who cares about money?!" Gretel shouted at him as she continued to shake.