Sacred Gear Store - Chapter 1 (Patreon)

Full Title: I got my Sacred Gear... and it manifested as a Multiversal Store?

Chapter 1: Wake up, sleeping Beauty!

Mhhh… this feels so nice and comfortable.

So warm and comfy. Such a warm feeling is spreading through my body. I really don’t want to wake up today!

Rightfully so! I’m still just so damn sleepy.

“…”

“…”

“…”

Damn, I sound like a lazy fuck. That’s kinda pathetic.

Don’t I have work today? I usually do, right?

I kinda don’t remember what day it is, but it shouldn’t be the weekend. Only losers stay in bed all day.

Honestly, I should get up and head out to… to… eh? To what?

How can I not remember what my job is? I definitely graduated and even finished university… I’m sure of that! I clearly remember graduating from… why can’t I remember anything?

My name is…? I don’t know?

Why don’t I know my own name? That’s not good… not good at all.

What the hell is going on?

It can’t be, can it? Did I get dementia? Is that why I don’t remember anything?

No, that can’t be right, can it? Isn’t dementia the kind of thing where you’re not even aware that you have it? I clearly know that I graduated, that I had a job, and all that. I just don’t remember the details.

If I had dementia, I would think I was still at school or something from the past, not be aware that there is something after that which I simply forgot.

And why do I feel so damn sleepy? My body, my limbs… they feel so weak. As if I’ve slept for a very long time? That’s not normal either.

Damn it, eyes, open up! Let me wake up.

I want to see!

Big Mistake! immediately, I got blinded by the light shining through the windows into the room. It took a considerable amount of blinking for my eyes to adjust to my surroundings before my vision finally cleared.

That’s… that’s not my room, right? I’m pretty sure of that.

It doesn’t feel like a room I would like at all.

While I may not remember what my actual room looked like, and I’m your regular guy who can live with a simple mattress and a wooden board on some beer crates as a table. I still would have decorated my room somewhat to give it a little personality.

This is just bland and sterile… kinda like a hospital room. Huh, is that an IV infusion beside my bed?

Oh, that makes sense! This must be a hospital room. Something really did happen to me! No wonder I can’t remember shit!

But there doesn’t seem to be a button to call a nurse. Everything looks so cheap. Am I supposed to just wait until someone comes?

Besides feeling a bit weak and stiff, I don’t think anything is wrong with me. There’s no discomfort or pain.

“…”

Nah, not with me.

You know what? If they wanted me to stay in bed, they would have installed a button for me to call the nurse. Fuck this shit! I want to know what’s going on.

Slowly placing my feet on the ground from the edge of the bed, I put some pressure on them. Yep, I can stand! All right.

Grabbing my IV drip, I move to the first door I see. Let’s see.

Oh, it’s a bathroom. And fairly recently cleaned, too! At least there’s no Walking Dead or apocalypse bullshit going on. As far as I can tell.

It’s got a mirror, too.

Hmm, blonde hair that reminds me of almost-gold. Black eyes with a golden shimmer in them. A pretty-boy face, too, visible even beneath the atrophy and sunken cheeks.

That doesn’t feel like my face.

Admittedly, I can’t tell what I actually look like. So maybe this is just my face, and I simply forgot.

At least once I get back to health, I could become a model or something. I should be outright handsome. And that’s not the innate narcissism of a guy speaking here. Just the facts.

Behind me, in the room, I could hear some noise.

“KYAAAAH!” Damn, what’s the ruckus? Someone entered my room…

“Doctor! The patient disappeared!” a female voice shouted loudly.

What kind of hospital is this supposed to be? That doesn’t seem like very professional behavior.

This time, a male voice joined in. “What!? That can’t be true!”

Maybe the doctor? But shouldn’t he know better than to be so loud in a hospital?

Sure, it sometimes gets busy, and sometimes even loud. But shouldn’t this be a rest ward where people recover? Not the emergency room?

“I am here!” I said as I moved toward the doorframe.

“KYAAAAH!” The female nurse in a pretty slutty nurse outfit cried out again as she whirled around and spotted me.

Seriously, what kind of hospital is this? That outfit belongs on the set of a porn movie, not in an actual hospital! And I’m not a prude or anything like that.

But I do have professional standards, especially for critical jobs like healthcare. Ignoring the worrisome fact that the nurse has blue hair, which never bodes well, that much cleavage doesn’t belong on a nurse, even if she has a killer body.

“H-how are you awake?” she asked as if she had seen a ghost.

Is that what you ask your patient? Not something like how I’m feeling or anything similar?

Yeah, this chick is a hack. Now she just needs to start preaching politics at me, and the hair color will check out, too.

“I opened my eyes…” I replied blandly.

Before she could say anything else, a man in what at least appeared to be professional doctor attire entered the room, albeit quite hurriedly.

The moment his eyes fell on me, they widened just like the nurse’s.

“That—How? How did you wake up?”

Great. Clothes don’t always make the man. This guy is also a hack. Hopefully, I don’t have anything too serious, or I’m screwed. I can work with memory loss, but anything deadly and, with these medical professionals, I’m pretty much screwed.

“I just did and opened my eyes. What’s with your stupid questions? Shouldn’t you check my condition or something? Or at least tell me what’s going on here?” I sighed, wondering if I had good enough health insurance to change hospitals.

“That just isn’t possible! Nobody has ever woken up from the Devil Sleep Disease!”

The what now? Devil?

“Ugh, are you sure you’re a doctor and not another patient?”

My head turns towards the Window... Why is the Sky purple?

———

Okay, fortunately, it wasn’t a mental asylum. And the doctor really was a doctor, not another patient who had stolen a doctor’s clothes. That’s the good news.

The bad news is that I don’t have better health insurance, either. Or health insurance at all. Or any money, like, at all…

I’m a welfare case receiving assistance from the government after it robbed me. Or, at least, I have been so far.

For the last 500 years or so.

Yep, my body is fucking old. Even if my mentality isn’t up there with it. Mentally, I’m just… I have no idea. I would say under 20.

I pretty much have no memories at all, but I still know stuff. Like what I am and what kind of world I’m currently living in, at least generally.

I’m kinda a devil.

And even with over 500 years on my biological clock, that is barely 5% of my minimal natural lifespan, if I’m to believe the random numbers that get thrown around about my race.

And that supposed 10,000-year lifespan for devils is pretty debatable, considering there isn’t a single devil who has died of old age yet. For all I know, I could be immortal, or I could have a much shorter lifespan than that.

Because while I’m legally considered a devil, that’s only one part of my parentage. My father was apparently a devil, while my mother was human, making me a devil-human hybrid.

So, for all I know, my lifespan could be only 5,000 years.

Fuck it, I’m happy to be alive and to have several times the lifespan I had in my last life. I’m also pretty damn certain I’m a reincarnator.

While I have no memories, I still know stuff. Like what I learned in school and university, which was probably related to computer science and programming, as well as a ton about fiction I must have consumed in my free time.

I’m pretty sure I was a maidenless weeb. Well, it is what it is.

Like I said, I’m happy to be alive, even while being poor and this pretty much being a Death World.

How do I know that?

Well, I have some knowledge about this world. In my previous life, it was one of the fictional worlds I consumed called Highschool DxD, a perverted ero franchise.

Not sure if I should be happy that my knowledge about this world is limited to the first few light novel volumes and wiki entries, or if I should hate my previous self for it.

On one hand, he wasn’t a complete degenerate for consuming this shit, but that knowledge would have really helped me now.

At least I have a general idea about this world and what’s going on, even if I have no idea where I am in the timeline.

Not that it matters much to me. My situation is completely unrelated to anyone in the story.

House Gremory, House Sitri, House Phenex, the Four Satans, and all that? That’s a completely different world from mine. They’re the high society, while I’m somewhere among the dregs.

The closest I’ve gotten to any of the characters who appeared in the light novels is a document with the signature of Sirzechs Lucifer himself. I’m not even sure if he actually read my name on it or if it was just another piece of paper he had to sign as part of his extremely busy schedule.

Even if I should technically count as a noble of Devil society myself.

But… well, I get why I don’t. I only have the status of a Low-Class Devil.

My situation isn’t actually that complicated. I got a pretty good summary of it at the hospital from some officials who handled my case.

I am Lucian Zagan. I was born over 500 years ago as the only son of the last Lord Zagan, head of one of the 72 Pillar Clans, and a human paramour of his.

I somehow became afflicted with the Devil Sleep Disease and slept through most of my life.

I’m actually from the same generation as the four current Satans.

Well, a few decades after I fell asleep, the Devil Civil War started, and my family was apparently on the side of the Old Satan Faction - the losing side.

Everyone from my House died during that war while I remained in a coma.

That effectively made me the new Lord of House Zagan. Which I officially am.

That’s the document I got from good old Satan Lucifer.

After the war was over, everything House Zagan owned was claimed by the winning side. They had won a war, after all, and with me out of commission, my House could put up pretty much no resistance.

Out of courtesy, and to preserve the Zagan bloodline, they put me under government care.

Dunno if somebody was planning to use me to breed a new House Zagan while I was asleep or something. I really don’t want to know.

Long story short, I somehow woke up from an incurable disease.

I have a theory as to why, but more on that later.

And now I have a fancy Lord title without anything to my name, not even a political seat that comes with it, since my clan was part of the enemy faction of the current government.

At least I can call myself Lord.

Whoever handled my case at least recognized that I’m pretty much screwed, penniless and homeless since all my territories were taken from me without me being able to do anything about it. So I got at least compensated.

In exchange for wealth and territories accumulated over thousands of years, especially what was produced over the last 500 years and what would have been produced in the future, I got a small house in Lilith, the capital of the Underworld, and a hundred thousand dollars.

Nice, isn’t it?

In exchange for trillions of dollars—probably a lot more if I consider my family’s clan ability—I got less than 500k, most of it in the form of a building, as a quick one-time payment.

That’s been an expensive war for my clan to choose to fight in.

And now I’m expected not to complain about it. Or rather, I’ve been strongly encouraged to accept the situation as it is and not cause any problems in the future if I know what’s good for me.

Obviously, I’m going to keep my head down.

For now…

I’m fully aware that they can get rid of me anytime they want. To them, a Low-Class Devil is nothing more than an ant.

But that doesn’t mean it’s going to stay like this forever.

I’ll remember it, even if I stay silent for now.

Apparently, being petty and being able to hold a grudge are some of the traits that carried over from my past life. Or is it just my Devil nature? But I’m smart enough to know when to act and when not to.

My new house, while nothing impressive, isn’t too bad either. It’s a former store, apparently owned by people who upgraded to a bigger one in a wealthier district of Lilith and left some of their interior behind.

The building consists of two floors sitting directly on the main floor of the district I’m living in. It’s not a district for the rich and wealthy, but for your everyday Devils.

On the top floor is a decent apartment consisting of a bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, living room, and study that could probably be converted into another bedroom. It has all the necessary furniture, saving me the hassle of wasting my money on it.

Meanwhile, the ground floor is split into two parts: the small shop area and a storage space that also leads to the staircase going up to the upper floor.

Oh, and the building has an attic, too, which I can use as extra storage space.

Overall, it’s a decent living space for my current situation. Not like I can remember anything better.

While I can’t remember any details of my past life, being able to afford a house was kinda a big deal for my generation. I think? Usually, you had to inherit one. That’s at least what my Knowledge is suggesting on how badly the economy got fucked.

And I know that from context, without being aware of the specific situation I once lived in.

So I shouldn’t complain, right?

No, and fuck you!

I know that my Clan was filthy rich! That's already enough for me to spite them!

One of the factors that made a family a member of the 72 Pillars, after all—Lucifer created a shit ton more Devils than just 72—was the fact that each of those Pillars had an innate ability, much like the original Four Satans themselves.

Bael got their fancy Power of Destruction, Sitri got mastery over water, Agares got control over time, Phenex had their immortality, Gremory were lucky, and all that.

Well, House Zagan got one, too.

Our fancy superpower is being rich!

No, seriously. House Zagan was the richest clan among the 72 Pillars.

Okay, it may not be being rich specifically. Rather, it’s a side effect of our innate ability, Merchant—an ability every descendant of House Zagan awakens in some shape or form.

Apparently, it has several distinct tiers at which it can appear, with the most powerful one having belonged to the first Zagan, who was created by Lucifer himself.

While it’s not exactly known what the Merchant ability actually does, nobody could tell me much beyond the basics. Apparently, I should be able to figure it out myself since it’s an innate ability.

Supposedly, it consists of several smaller abilities, all of which make one a good merchant.

For one, every Zagan descendant has a talent for being a merchant, making them good at trading and bartering. Additionally, we have an innate magic that allows us to exchange between currencies.

Which is probably the reason why Zagan, the demon from the Ars Goetia in human mythology, is described as someone who can transmute metals into coins.

But that’s just what is publicly known. Or maybe just the level of skill someone with the lowest tier of our innate ability has access to.

I, for one, instinctively know I can do more.

Like, I seem to have some kind of identification ability that tells me what something is and how much it’s worth.

Focusing on one of the worn-out shelves in my storeroom, a bit of information appears in my mind.

<Shelf (Hard Maple) - An aged and worn-out store shelf. It’s been in use for over a decade and should be replaced sooner rather than later. Value: $8>

It’s a shelf, all right. Not much to say about it.

Depending on how far this ability goes, it could be quite useful. Like, can I use it to identify attacks and spells? Or can I see if someone has a Sacred Gear?

And as far as I can tell, that is far from everything my innate ability, Merchant, can do.

There is more… so much more.

If what I instinctively know is true, it’s no surprise that House Zagan became probably the richest Devil clan in the history of the entire race.

I wonder how the level of the abilities I was born with compares to the first Zagan. But the information I have about him is quite sparse. In general, any in-depth information about Zagan is extremely limited.

Which is no surprise after realizing what I can do. I would have kept those abilities as secret as possible, too.

At least the Devil Government isn’t entirely heartless and gave me a store to start out with.

And being a Lord has its perks even without political power. I’m exempt from annoying paperwork like getting permits. At least outside of any Houses Territory. Lilith is fortunately a public Territory.

I can just start a business under my clan’s name whenever I want.

So, thanks to my clan’s ability, my situation isn’t entirely hopeless.

Plus, there’s also the fact that I woke up from the Devil Sleep Disease that has been hounding our race.

Thanks to my wiki research in my past life, I know that there is only one method to wake someone up from the Sleep Disease.

Well, two, but I don’t think anybody used my tits to communicate with me, since I’m a guy.

Fucking ero anime universe.

I must have awakened a Sacred Gear!

[-- End of Chapter --]