Battler rejects Gretel's first offer. (Favors -3)

"Think about it!" Gretel continued to beg Battler desperately. "None of this can possibly be real! It might be fun to dream that cute girls are going to dance for you, but isn't it embarrassing to sit by yourself during a family conference and actually expect it to happen? You should be... a more respectable person than that...!" The witch's cold blue eyes seemed to be getting a bit wet, although she held back any tears.

Battler might be a pervert, but he clearly had no desire to make a girl cry and dance for him if she didn't want to. Furthermore... "Gretel, was it? You're right. A little girl like Maria might believe in witches when they tell her about magic, but I'm a grown man! Plus... I get the feeling I can trust you, for some reason. Well, trust myself, anyway... After all, you're just like, uh, my conscience or something, right? Telling me to get my head back in the game."

"Battler..." A small smile finally formed on Gretel's face as she enthusiastically nodded. "That's right! Forget about me and that other witch. We can't actually be here... This isn't a place for witches, demons, or any creepy magic. It's a place for you and your family to gather and, eventually, leave!"

"That's right! I'm a little ashamed of myself for getting carried away like this, ihihi... In the end, me and magic just don't mix. It's a shame, though... If there really was a girl like you, I think the two of us could have gotten along."

Gretel shook her head, shutting her eyes. "No, you don't need to worry about that... There's a girl like me, waiting for you somewhere. You'll find her, but not here... I can't be with you, here, right now. You've got to leave this place, Battler... Tell me you agree. Tell me I'm not here, and that no magic can make it so that I am."

Seeing now that things had turned sharply against her, Beatrice raised her voice to interrupt. "Think carefully, Battler! This girl is only here by a miracle: no matter what she says, if you do not acknowledge her presence here, you will not have another chance to meet! Will you reject that miracle, and untold sums on those cards? Will you spit in the face of my magic like that, human?!"

"Heh... It'd be nice to imagine I could win the lottery and a lap dance from a cute girl all at once." Battler rose, putting one hand in his pocket and shaking his head. He pointed one finger forward dramatically. "But it's useless, all useless! There's no miracle so convenient in this world, and there's no such thing as magic! Gretel doesn't exist on this island!"

The red-headed witch began to grow translucent, her form drifting into glimmering shards like glass, before those shards became dust. She wore a beaming smile on her face... but before she disappeared, I was sure I saw thick tears rolling down her cheeks. "Thank you, Battler... I'm waiting for you, okay? Stay safe, and we'll see each other again..."

Battler's smile faltered a bit. He clearly didn't understand that witch's parting reaction.

When he turned to Beatrice, I could see he didn't understand that reaction either. Obviously, he could understand her frustration as she lay on her legs with a shocked expression. What he couldn't understand was why she was facing the bed, looking at someone he couldn't see.

"You didn't disappear... so you're not a figment of my imagination, huh? You either, mask guy..." I saw Battler gulp, beginning to understand even more clearly that something bizarre was going on, and starting to comprehend it might be dangerous. Neither of us tried to stop him when he carefully nudged by and exited the room.

Beatrice and I remained respectfully silent. After all, unseen by Battler, the Witch of Miracles, Bernkastel, was sitting on the edge of that bed, watching us with a smile and those eerie eyes. "My, my... I didn't think that miracle would come about so easily. To think, Battler managed to escape his prison so quickly. If the human side wins this fast, it almost isn't any fun..."

"You... What do you-" Beatrice started to mutter.

Bernkastel simply waved her hand, causing Beatrice's form to turn grey, then scatter like ashes into a sudden wind. "That's enough speaking from the loser's piece, I believe. Shouldn't you be serving tea somewhere? Now, as for you..." The short witch rose from the bed gracefully, smoothing down her skirt, and walked towards me with that same smile. "Was this the outcome you wanted? You did choose it, after all... It looks like Battler survived this encounter, and with no Golden Witch to torment him, what does he have to fear? He'll weather a storm, then return with his family to his little sister waiting sick at home for him... That would be a real miracle, wouldn't it? Only... You understand, don't you? That some miracles aren't compatible with others."

I didn't understand much at all. Shaking my head, I asked Bern to explain. I wasn't sure I wanted to hear the answer, but there wasn't much else to do.

"I believe another miracle should be happening right about now, by the rules of your game... Even if Beatrice doesn't exist in those magical terms, a mystery can still take place, right? This is an island full of riddles, full of greedy humans, and - most crucially - full of working rifles. I was about to fix a snack and watch. Would you like to? Or do you plan to retire early tonight?"

... I realized what she was talking about, and I told her I didn't have any desire to see that. I told her I'd retire early.

"Mm... A boring end for your boring story, then. Don't accidentally leave any evidence that'll mess up the mystery, okay?"

I didn't have to worry about that. After all, it wasn't anything Bern was actually expecting from me. With a wave of her hand, the pole we'd meticulously worked to install earlier... The boombox I'd brought in with the intention to play music... My out-of-place party mask and my body, which had never been properly invited to this island in the first place... Everything that didn't belong in this VIP room turned to dust and vanished without witnessing the birth of any new witch.