"Okay.. uh.." Ben gulped. "I guess I should welcome everyone to the official Defeat The Arch Bishop of Sin Pride meeting, and er.."

Ben gulped, he wasn't all too into public speaking, even when he was a celebrity back in the past Earth, he never really had it down unless he was just showing off to a bunch of kid fans. 

Rem, who was back in her Maid's outfit, put a hand on Ben's hand, smiling encouragingly. 

Ben took a deep breath, looking at everyone else who was seated around the dirty coffee table inside the ruined Tenement House. 

"Okay, well down to business, due to the sudden actions by the Witch's Cult here in Banan town, where many innocents were nearly turned into a bunch of memory and existence jelly, we've all agreed that we cannot afford to wait any longer, we need to go back Lugnica and stop Eltanin Draconis, Arch Bishop of Pride."

"I would've preferred to wait until Ben-san is more able to control and steady his emotions and trauma, but even an eternal playboy like me can't deny the situation." said Halibel, stroking his chin. "Hmmm."

"Indeed." Crusch said. "The fact that the Witch's Cult pulled off something like this in this small town tells us that leaving Eltanin to his own devices for even a single moment more is close to suicidal for the country of Lugnica."

"Well lets examine what we know." Ben stated, reinvigorated by the words of Crusch and Halibel. "The Witch's Cult was here doing something. We know that Elsa and Meili are implied to be part of the cult, so their actions can be summarized as on the cult's orders. And while Petelguese wasn't directly involved, he was still here, which means he must've been here looking after Elsa and Meili for some reason."

"Backup is likely." said Wilhelm. "He knew precisely where we were headed and waited in ambush for us there. If it weren't for the DNAliens, we probably would've been overwhelmed by sheer numbers."

"Nya.. I don't know, maybe Humungousaur could've gotten us out of that." said Felix with a wink and shrug. "But overall I guess the DNAliens waking up was a better choice. After all we found Looma-chan nya!"

"So, we know thanks to Beatrice that the bowl was intended to make a powerful barrier using people's memories and souls as a power source." said Ben. "A long lasting one, and after further investigation of cult activities in the town by Crusch we know a bit more."

"It was a huge experiment, led by the Arch Bishop of Vainglory." said Crusch. "He goes by the name A, or at least that is his alias, everything about him is  practically unknown except that he did introduce himself as an Arch Bishop to one of the maids in the manor.  They intended for this place to function as a laboratory to conduct experiments on new kinds of magic. Apparently Vainglory is a bit of a mad professor."

"And also thanks to several witnesses who had their existences brought back, we know that Vainglory erased some of them only because they witnessed vital clues, namely other basins being made in strange workshops throughout Kararagi, before being shipped off in Merchant carriages to Lugnica." said Wilhelm. "In other words-."

"They're attempting to do the same thing in a number of locations in Lugnica." finished Ben. "And we know some of the locations already. One of them is Roswaal manor and the village it sits next to, the manifest whose records we found in Elsa's hideout proves that much. Another is Rukrid town, a village near Vertilot Manor, and the last one is a more remote town southeast of the landmark called the Flugel Tree."

Each of those locations were managed only by Vainglory, Sloth, and Pride, meaning without Sloth in the picture, we'll only have to deal with Eltanin and this mysterious A." said Crusch. "I don't like not knowing about A or his authority, it feels like we're definitely heading into a trap."

"We can't convince Lugnica's royal guard to help us either." Ben said. "I'm still a fugitive until we take down Eltanin after all."

"There are a few however who might assist us." said Vertilot. "Julius Juukulius, and if we can convince him the truth of our words, Reinhardt Van Astrea." 

"Those two guys?" Ben muttered. "Julius didn't seem anxious to believe me while Swampfire was battling him."

"He's the knightliest of knights, so he'll follow the law, but he also has his bigger good points." said Vertilot. "I have no doubt he'll help us once he realizes the gravity of the situation. He even attempted to convince his benefactor, Princess Candidate Anastasia Holsten, to look into our case, he's on our side."

"Then what about Reinhardt. Wait, the Van Astrea name, Wilhelm is he-?"

"My grandson, though I'm not one he would listen to." said Wilhelm. "It is a long tale, not worth our time right now. But Mr. Tennyson, I think he would listen to you, if you speak to him yourself."

"M-Me!?" Ben stammered. "I don't know, isn't he like the greatest hero in Lugnica or-?"

Wilhelm smiled encouragingly. "You have no reason not to stand with him on grounds of Mutual Respect. He's met you already and respects you. He will listen if you set up the right moment to make an audience."

Ben sighed, but on the inside Wilhelm's compliment actually flattered him. "Alright then. Okay, so we'll need to prepare for the final fight, first we need to make communications with Julius and Anastasia's faction, and also talk to Reinhardt. We should also warn Roswaal, but I sent Beatrice to do that, so I guess we'll be fine.  We'll separate into two groups."

"I wish to travel with Master Ben." said Looma. 

"I'll also go with Ben." said Rem fervently

"I shall go with Dog Pee Boy, if only to ensure he isn't off goofing around with his new harem." said Ram coldly. 

"OOOH OOOH! I'll be wherever Ram is!" squealed Driba. 

"I'll be wherever." Blukic muttered. 

"Well er, I guess that solves  that." Ben said. "Group one will go to talk to Reinhardt I guess."

"The group isn't evenly split yet Ben-san, I think it would be useful if I came along as well." said Halibel with a chuckle. "After all, infiltrating the Lugnican capital will require no small amount of stealth. "

"Oh, then I guess you can come along too." Ben said. "Any objections?"

"None from me." said Crusch with a smile. 

"A good group." said Wilhelm. "Mr. Tennyson, I wish you luck."

"In the meantime, we will make  contact with Anastasia Holsten's faction. She's a businesswoman, I know a few tactics we can try." said Crusch. 

"Alright then, we all have our respective groups, with our own goals, when we're done we'll meet up at Roswaal's manor and plan out our strategy for the final confrontation." said Ben. "Good luck and see you soon!"

And with that, everyone left the table. 

As they did, Rem beckoned over to Ben.

"Eh? What is it Rem?"

Rem smiled. "I thought perhaps I could give this back to you.."

Rem put her hands under the table and brought out a set of neatly folded familiar clothes. A familiar jacket and set of black pants.. 

Ben grinned. "Huh, guess I had to go back to wearing my staple clothing eventually."

"Ben-kun, I hope you know. " Rem's eyes filled with emotion as she looked directly at Ben. "That even if you stop believing in yourself.. I'll be the one cheering you on, okay?"

Ben felt speechless for a moment, before nodding. "Yeah, I'll be sure to remember that."

Ram coughed, looking sour. "I believe we should be preparing Dog Pee Boy, unless you need me to pry you off my sister with a spatula."

"Jeez Ram, don't be so harsh." Ben grumbled. "But then again I guess it would be weird if you weren't harsh huh?"

And with that the group went off to make their preparations. 

*********************

https://youtu.be/cyXX3D66hvQ

Otto Suwen wasn't usually one to complain, rather the he was one to inherit the type of luck that justified plenty of complaints. 

Only 12 days after he had finally achieved becoming a Merchant, he had come across an extraordinary business opportunity. 

One day for some reason, he had come across the strangest looking creature. 

At first that creature was mistaken for a demihuman, perhaps a Possum or Rat type Demihuman of some sort. 

But after Otto got a closer look at him, he began to see something different. This fellow was more like an amalgamation of sorts. Porcupine-hedgehog-like quills, a rat-like face and snout, bulbous lizard-like eyes, rodent-like hands and feet. Wearing a strange brown coat. 

The creature with his bald tail whipping back and forth, smirked at Otto, leaning on his carriage. Otto still remembered it like it was yesterday, the snide comments this creature made that would change his life forever. 

"Hey there, you seem like a sensible merchant of sorts!" said the creature with a grin. "What's your name? And who is this lovely ride of yours?"

"The Earth Dragon is Frufoo." said Otto, jabbing a thumb at his worried looking  Earth Dragon as he sat at the reins of his carriage.  "I am Otto Suwen. If you ever wish to do business, I am more than happy to- eh-eh wait!!"

Otto was a weak looking youth with somewhat gray colored hair, dressed in green merchant's garb and a hat, it definitely gave off an air of vulnerability to him, which was probably why the strange rat-like creature started poking his head through the curtain of Otto's carriage without remorse. 

"Oho! These are some amazing goods!" said the creature. "The name's Argit, you could say I'm an entrepreneur of sorts."

"An Entrepreneur?" said Otto. "Do you also transport goods?"

"Used to, now I just offer exquisite deals on exquisite goods." said Argit. "You're headed to Lugnica am I right?"

"Well yeah." said Otto. 

"How would you like prime first dibs on a product that'll not only earn maximum profits, but will put the Lugnican military on your regulars list?" said Argit, elbowing Otto with a wagg of his eyebrows. "Hmmm?"

Otto frowned at Argit. 

Already he could detect that this creature was not the sort who should be regarded as trustworthy by anyone. 

However, profitable?  It was these sort of untrustworthy sorts who had the riskiest, yet most profitable goods. 

Otto frowned, he wasn't sure he wanted to risk his merchant's license on day one. He looked at Frufoo who was rapidly shaking her dinosaur-like head. 

'No Master, you musn't!' Her voice echoed in Otto's mind. 'He obviously sold his mother at one point!'

"Hey! I'll have you know I got top dollar for my mom!" said Argit. 

"Y-you understand Frufoo?" stammered Otto.

"Well yeah, animals just seem to have this tic about them that I can't get out of my ear. But trust me, I've already got an audience with the Royal Knights! C'mon what do you say?" Argit said, grinning snidely.  "Eh eh!? the contract is over one million crowns.."

"O-ONE MILLION!?" squealed Otto. 

Who could say no to that!? Especially when Argit flashed his stamped and approved product moving license which meant that the appointment was indeed legitimate. 

And so they made it to the royal court, hauling crates of Argit's special goods. When they finally got to the castle in the Capital, they were set up in the castle's courtyard with several training dummies that Argit had marked with targets, as two ministers of defense stood by with several knights including one famous purple haired knight that could've  only been Julius Juukulius. 

"There are some big wigs here." Otto whispered, eying Julius nervously. "Are you sure these are top grade weapons?"

Argit smirked as he opened one of his crates. "Trust me Otto kiddo! What they've got is nothing compared to these babies."

Argit pulled out what appeared to be some sort of rod made of a strange looking metal that was red in color. The rod was bent near the end, forming a sort of handle with what appeared to be something akin to a crossbow trigger of some sort. 

"What joke is this?" growled one of the ministers. "I ordered swords Otto Suwen, not a bunch of stringless crossbows made of metal!"

"I'm So-!" Otto almost made to bow in apology, but Argit stopped him with an arm.

"Crossbow!? HA! CROSSBOW!? Listen pal! The age of the sword and shield is way past!" exclaimed Argit. "Lets face it pal, your method of warfare is practically lost to the stone age!"

"What!?" growled the minister as Julius could be seen raising an eyebrow.  "You dare mock our weapons here!? Purchased from the greatest smi-!?"

"ZZZZZEEEEEEEEEEEENNNNNNN!!" Argit aimed the gun and fired it at one of the dummies. Immediately, a powerful red energy beam of immense heat erupted from the barrel, blasting through the dummy and melting the wall behind it into a puddle of magma. 

All those present stared with shock as Argit blew the smoke off the laser gun's barrel.  "You were saying?"

"Wh-what are these!?" stammered the minister. "Are they powered by magic stones!? Or-?"

"Nope! These things don't run out of power, nor do they use magic." said Argit. "What you have here are Sotorragian Radiation Blasters, Model number 834, latest Edition!  Made using Techadon battle frames, so they're built to last. Capable of 9,000 shots per day, solar powered of course so they recharge just by leaving em out for a nice breeze, even on a cloudy day."

"Th-these words you're saying, I don't quite understand them-" The minister began. 

"They're super powerful alien weapons, made by beings that come from the stars, beings like me." said Argit with a grin. "Wake up folks, you ain't alone in the universe anymore! And unless you have weapons to match, you won't stand a chance when somebody not as nice as me comes down in a space ship and knocks on your door. There's a lot more where these came from."

"These weapons are powerful." said Julius. "But minister, they're a bit too powerful. How such a suspicious character got these weapons, he can't be trusted."

"I agree." growled the Minister. "Throw the rat in the dungeons till we can ascertain the weapon origins with this merchant transporter."

"Of course I'll provide detailed-." Otto began.

"IT WAS HIM!!" roared Argit, pointing at Otto. "He made me do it! Please I beg of you, he pointed one of the guns at my head and threatened me!!! But once I saw the great Julius Juukulius, I knew that maybe... mayhaps.. THERE WAS HOPE!!"

Argit fell on his knees. "PLEEEEASE SAVE ME FROM THIS SICK SICK MAN!!"

Otto just stammered, flabbergasted. "S-surely you wouldn't believe-.."

"CLANG!" Otto fell to his butt as a  set of barred doors shut in front of him. 

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?" Otto sobbed, grasping the bars with his hands. "You'd actually believe the Rat Faced jerk!!"

"Cool it racist!" roared another guard. 

Otto sighed. "You'll treat half elves like monsters, but you'll support the rat guy who brought 200 suspicious products to your door? I'm sensing some hypocrisy in the current system of government."

Otto sat down on the dungeon floor, grumbling to himself. 

"Psst.. hey, Psssssssst Grotto!"

"It's Otto!!" growled Otto, looking up at the dungeon window, only to catch his breath. 

Argit was looking through the window, his hands on the bars. "C'mon, I'm bustin' you out!"

"Oh no!" Otto growled, waving his hands. "I'm not trusting you! I'm going to sit in here and await trial so I can argue to keep my merchant's license at the very least-."

Argit squeezed between the bars using a strangely malleable body, leaping down to the dungeon floor quietly. "yeah yeah, come on man, I'm your buddy. I knew that the only one of us who could actually bust people out of joints would be the one with experience! I mean seriously, compared to Incarcecon this place is like a kindergarten play pen!" 

Argit spat a key out of his mouth. "Took these from one of the guards, hopeless drunks."

Otto gritted his teeth. If he didn't do something now, he was definitely going to get into more trouble. So he did the only sensible thing.

"GUARDS!! GUARDS HELP!" screamed Otto. 

"Oh jeez." Argit rolled his eyes as he unlocked the dungeon door and multiple guards ran in, their armor clanking and echoing in the damp prison. 

"Halt! Demihuman!" roared one of the guards.

Argit merely grinned slyly as his quills suddenly stood on end, and multiple needles exploded from his back. 

The guards fell over, snoring, each one stuck with several of Argit's quills. 

"Wh-what kind of ability is that!?" stammered Otto.

Suddenly, the sound of more yells and armor clanking could be heard coming from outside. 

"Well I ain't sticking around long, so either you stay here and try to explain to the guards why your door is open and their comrades are all sleepy, orrrrr.." Argit wiggled his eyebrows.. or furbrows.. or whatever. 

"I hate you.." Otto whispered as he followed Argit out the dungeon door. 

"This is going to be the start of a BEAUTIFUL friendship." said Argit. "Lets do this business partner!"

And so after Otto and Argit left the Lugnican capital, screaming as Frufoo pulled their carriage, dodging flaming arrows and a rather bemused Julius Juukulius, their life as black market merchants began. 

Luck would have it, Otto didn't lose his license fortunately, as he wasn't too well known yet, and Argit used it to their advantage. With his license and legal goods that were actually sold, Otto was able to enter cities quite easily while Argit used the cover to transport his alien weapons, selling them to underground criminal organizations, gangs, and even shinobi agents from Kararagi. 

Otto had to admit, profits soared to the point where he was able to start his own Merchant's company, possessing his own employed riders, carriages, and even some headquarters in Alam Village in the Margrave Mathers Territory. 

However, his conscience never slept. He would always attempt to get Argit to sell his "product" to legal defense type organizations like the military, but of course he couldn't really control his business partner.

All the more disturbing was where Argit managed to get a steady stream of his products from.  Otto found out of course, but knowing about how Argit manufactured alien technology was the scariest part of all, especially when thinking about what might happen if that source fell into the wrong hands. 

After 2 years passed, and business boomed, Otto brought this subject up as he was piloting Frufoo and his carriage back to the Lugnican Capital after years of staying away. 

"I'm just saying-." Otto said. "If anybody else were to find what we found and used it-."

"They can't use it, only we can." Argit said, as he leaned on top of the large barrels that were stacked within the carriage, sipping a large bottle of wine. "Like ease up will ya Botto?"

"It's Otto!" Otto squealed. "I can't believe we're actually business partners! You're such an inconsiderate ass!"

"Well you can kick me out at any time!" said Argit. 

"I've tried.. MANY TIMES!  But you keep coming back and throwing me into more trouble forcing me to go along with you!!" Otto yelled. 

"Really!? Name one time!"

"When we first met, the dungeon!"

"You needed to be busted out, I was doing you a favor!"

"That time in Vollachia where I got thrown into a giant pit of Mabeasts-!"

"You would've been dead if I wasn't there."

"YOU'RE THE ONE THAT KICKED ME IN THERE!!"

Otto let out a huff of fury and refocused on the road ahead as Frufoo gave her master a few comforting growls. 

"Just calm down Roboto-!"

"OTTO!!"

"Yeah Toto!" exclaimed Argit. "I've got a nifty new gig lined up for us in the Capital. I know a guy-."

"OH NO! Every time you claim you know a guy, we end up running for our lives from an entire army while having somehow kidnapped the princess of said entire country!!" screamed Otto.

"C'mon.. it only happened 3 times, and I think Princess Pliv has a thing for you, she hated her time in Vollachia!" said Argit. 

"There's still a 100,000 crown bounty on our heads!!" screamed Otto. 

"And we were wearing masks! So no big deal!" said Argit. 

At that moment, Otto pulled on the reins of his carriage. His eyes went wide with fear. 

Standing around his carriage were several people in cloaks, with bag-like masks over their heads. 

There were four of them. Two girls judging by their slightly visible figures, around the same height. One man perhaps..  and what appeared to be a giant woman about 7 feet tall, 

"Sorry about this." said the boy. "But we're commandeering your vessel."

"What is this a boat Dog Pee Boy?" grunted one of the girls. 

"C'mon! This is the first time I've ever done criminal stuff, it's tough!" said the boy. 

"RUN RUN!!" screamed Argit from inside the carriage. 

"FRUFOO!" Otto yelled. 

The Earth Dragon let out a roar and dashed past the group of bandits, dashing at high speed towards the capital. 

As they did, a flash of green light erupted from behind them, but Otto had no time to think about that. 

"Clockwork!"

A strange metal creature suddenly appeared in front of the group, as if somehow zooming at super speed. However it made no sense, as the giant dumpy metal robot with gears in its body looked in no way agile or capable of running fast. 

"WHO DID YOU PISS OFF!?" screamed Otto as Frufoo skidded to a halt.  

"WHY DO YOU ASSUME IT WAS ME!?" roared Argit. 

"IT'S ALWAYS YOU!!" Otto roared back as Clockwork stomped forward.  

"It's a Chronosapien! Oh God! I can't believe it! An ACTUAL Chronosapien!?" Argit yelled. 

 "Hold on!" Otto threw  a set of magical stones from his pouch, the stones beginning to glow bright as they prepared to detonate like bombs. 

Clockwork's dial began to spin, and a pulse of green energy swept outwards. As the sensation hit Otto, he realized that it felt like something was slowing down, like something was off, right as the strange robot creature turned into a blur of speed. 

No, he wasn't going fast, rather everything else was slow. This thing controlled time!?

"KRAAAASSSSSSSHHHH!" Otto screamed as the stones exploded in mid air, and Clockwork reappeared right next to Frufoo, grabbing the earth dragon in his hands and restraining the beast as it struggled frantically. 

"Sorry.. very sorry about this." said Clockwork fervently as the other bandits caught up. 

As this happened, the large bandit whipped her cloak open to reveal four muscular red arms as she grabbed onto the carriage and carried it over her head as if it were light as a feather, causing Otto and Argit to fall out, screaming. 

"My master says that I must apologize, and so I offer my apologies." said the four armed bandit. 

"A TETRAMA-mmmmmff!?" Argit managed to say right before one of the girls stuffed a gag over his snout. 

"S-sorry sir." said the girl. "W-we will be sure to pay you two back with interest when our names are cleared."

Before they knew it, Otto and Argit were tied up completely, gagged, and thrown into the back of the carriage as the boy, the large four armed woman, and one of the two girls hid in back, while the first girl, removed her mask to reveal a pink haired girl with a cute face but cold eyes, and took Frufoo's reins. 

"Cooperate, or your masters will end up in a very dire situation." the girl said, glaring at the Earth Dragon, who could only let out a low growl in meek compliance to the cold demands set before her.

Somehow, the strange time controlling being that Argit had called a Chronosapien was nowhere in sight. 

Otto glared at Argit. 

"Fwwaa!?" (What!?)

Otto heaved a massive sigh. "A hagth u tho muh! (I hate you so much!)

And so continued the adventures of the Unfortunate Otto continued.