No Hero Side Stories 1: Never Change, Part One

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No Hero Side Story: Never Change

Original novel in Chinese by: 御我 (Yu Wo)


Never Change, Part One—translated by Trespasserby

When he had found out that the man who applied had actively sought to be his butler, E.X. was not at all happy about it.

A human who wished so strongly to become a vampire’s butler was usually not a good thing.

If the person wasn’t a boring, vampire-obsessed maniac, then he was probably someone who wanted to become a vampire, thereby obtaining eternal life.

E.X. retained his cautious mentality, even taking into consideration that this butler could be someone from the Church. Once the butler arrived, a war could be imminent.

Although the family he commissioned to find a butler on his behalf was an ancient butler family, and was unlikely to betray their employer, in this era, what could be considered entirely trustworthy?

E.X. stood by the French windows and raised his head to gaze at the moon. The moonlight this night was brilliant. The sound of a faint wolf howl came from a distance.

Werewolves? E.X. narrowed his eyes slightly. He did not like having werewolves near his home. Perhaps he should find some time to deal with them?

Knock, knock.

Hearing a knock on the door, E.X.’s right hand clenched. After ascertaining that he was always prepared for battle, he turned around and spoke lightly, “Enter.”

The door to the study opened. The man who entered wore a dress shirt, a vest, and a red bowtie. He wore a smile, and bowed to E.X., introducing himself, “Greetings, sir. I am the applicant the Elysees family sent, Kaius Elysees.”

E.X. did not reply and only examined the butler. He appeared to be thirty years old at most. He had shoulder-length hair, which was neatly combed, and a rather handsome appearance. Although he wore a smile, and his bearing was courteous, he also had an aura that made people feel he should not be trifled with.

This person was likely not a nameless butler within the Elysees family.

The resume stated that this butler was already forty, but the only indication of this from the person standing in front of him was the graying by his temples, which suited his age.

“Why did you actively seek to be my butler?” E.X. did not like beating around the bush. If this person could not produce a reason that would convince him, then he would rather allow his castle to turn into ruins due to lack of management, than to allow a ticking time bomb to stay.

“Mr. X, would you allow me to introduce someone?” Kaius respectfully requested. “He is standing just outside the door.”

Hearing this, E.X.’s guard went up, but he still agreed.

The doors to the room opened once more. A black-haired young man entered, wearing the same dress shirt and vest, but not the red bowtie.

“This is my son, my biological son.” Kaius introduced the newcomer and heavily emphasized the word “biological.” Then, he requested, “He is still in the process of training to be a butler. My hope is that you will permit him to be your living room attendant, sir, at no additional cost.”

That young man appeared to be approximately twenty and had a shy smile… However, E.X. discovered the truth with just one glance.

This young man was definitely a vampire.

“Was he bitten?” Although being bitten did not always mean turning into a vampire, which required going through the complicated procedure of a First Kiss, humans did not understand this, and he could not be bothered to explain.

Kaius smiled and shook his head, saying, “No. My son did not need a First Kiss. He is a pureborn vampire.”

A pureborn vampire!

Even E.X. was shocked by this.

Only a female vampire could bear a pureborn vampire. Even so, the fertilization rates were very low and the chances of its survival were so small that it was almost impossible. Even after living for so long, he could use a single hand to count the number of times he had seen a pureborn vampire… In addition, he hadn’t seen a single one that had truly survived.

“Mr. E. X., greetings.” The black-haired young man smiled. The smile was very gentle. He even had a pair of warm, lake green eyes, which made him seem even gentler.

A gentle vampire? E.X. felt speechless. He hoped this gentle appearance was only an outward impression.

Nevertheless, he no longer had his guard raised against this butler, Kaius. This was because he had thoroughly understood the reason why this butler would take the initiative to apply—having a pureborn vampire son was an excellent reason.

X asked that young vampire, “What is your name?”

The other person replied, smiling, “Charles. Charles Endelis.”

“You will not be a living room attendant, but my butler. Your father shall be responsible during the night. You shall be responsible during the day.”

“Eh?” Charles became flustered, and he hastened to say, “I am still in training, and am not a true butler yet. I still cannot…”

E.X. interrupted him icily. “If you do not agree, then leave this castle! Both you and your father.”

Charles’s eyes widened. For a moment, he did not know what to do. He had rarely been exposed to such passionate words.

In the Elysees family, most people were butlers, skilled at controlling their emotions. In such an environment, even those who were not butlers had learned to have calm personalities. There wasn’t anyone who would use such an emotional tone and strong wording.

E.X. did not wait for his response and continued to speak. “There is a girl in the castle. She mostly sits within the sunroom. Help me take care of her. Meet all of her needs, no matter how much money must be spent! She will retire before twelve, and will not require your services after she is asleep. You are also forbidden from entering her room. Do you understand?”

Charles nodded and said, “Yes, Mister E.X.”

Upon hearing the word “mister,” E.X. frowned and said, “Call me X.”

“Yes, Mister X.”

“Remove the ‘mister!’”

“Yes! Mist—X!” Almost making another mistake, Charles became so nervous that he broke into a cold sweat. Although he had already practiced for many years, practice was practice—this was the real thing now!

“Generation?”

“What?”

“Your generation number!” X impatiently said.

Charles understood and hastily replied, “Fifth generation.”

X froze. “What did you say?”

Charles did not know what he had said wrong again. He could only cautiously repeat once more, “I am a fifth generation vampire.”

“…” X was speechless for some time. He asked, “Amongst all the vampires still alive in the world, are you aware of what the lowest generation number is?”

“The fifth generation.” This time, Charles replied without hesitation.

“You knew?” X was surprised.

“Yes.” Charles nodded, saying, “My honorable father already researched many things related to vampires.”

“… In order to approach me, you came here as a butler?”

Charles hastily said, “No, I truly am a butler-in-training. Therefore, please do not worry, sir. I can definitely fulfill a butler’s duties.”

“That’s what worries me!” X roared, “A fifth generation vampire being a butler? You only have to diligently practice your blood ability, wait until a later date, bite and create two childes, and let them each create two more, generation by generation. A powerful vampire clan will be born! You are a fifth generation! You can create many vampires with generation numbers lower than ten. The generation number equates to the strength of the blood ability!”

Charles froze, his expression hesitant.

X frowned and commanded, “Say whatever it is you want to say.”

Charles said in a low voice, “I do not have the intention of forming a clan, and I also do not know how to perform a First Kiss. Actually—actually, I cannot use this ‘blood ability’ power either.”

“You do not know how to use your blood ability?” X asked with a blank expression, “Then what about Face Morph?”

“What is Face Morph?” Charles queried, puzzled.

“How did you even last so long?” X was incredulous. He growled, “Have you never been attacked by another vampire before? Without being able to use your blood ability, you should have died at the hands of another vampire long ago!”

“I have never had the experience of being attacked by another vampire.” Charles honestly confessed, “I have always lived within the estate of the Elysees family. No vampire has ever come to attack the estate.”

X froze, but then he felt that it actually wasn’t strange. Although Kaius did not appear to be an ordinary butler… To actually be able to use the family’s power to protect his own son—and this son was even a vampire—this person’s status within the Elysees household was likely even higher than X had imagined.

X sat behind the desk, his fingernails lightly running across the desktop, as was his habit when he was thinking.

At this time, the doors to the study opened, and Kaius entered. His hands held a tray. Placed on top was a milk jug and cups. He put a cup in front of X and then poured the drink. However, the liquid that flowed out of the mouth of the jug was not white, but dark red.

X stopped running his fingernails across the desktop and called out, “Kaius.”

Kaius stopped and replied, “Yes? How may I help?”

“Your son will also be my butler. He will be responsible for my daily needs during the evening. You will be responsible during the daytime, assisting me in taking care of a girl. She will most likely be frequenting the sunroom…”

As X issued his orders, Charles, who was standing to the side, could not help widening his eyes. This meant… he had become responsible for taking care of the employer?

29 Responses

  1. Midori

    thanks a lot—-!
    ah, the first meeting between x and charles?! and charles’ father kaius?! -screams and falls to the floor- ah, so awesome! please…give me more of thos time period! so—great—! really great chapter, yes, yes indeed!

  2. carrot

    “You will not be a living room attendant, but my butler. Your father shall be responsible during the night. You shall be responsible during the day.”
    “Your son will also be my butler. He will be responsible for my daily needs during the evening. You will be responsible during the daytime, assisting me in taking care of a girl. She will most likely be frequenting the sunroom…”

    X changed his mind? Since Charles is a vampire shouldn’t he have the night shift? Also I thought Charles was a fourth generation vampire?
    Thanks!

    • [PR]doza

      Nope, Charles has always been a fifth generation vampire – ever since V1C1.

      As for why E.X. changed his mind, I always thought it was because, yeah like you said, vampires are more active in the night. So when he changed his mind later to having Charles attend to him at night, it was probably because he wants to spend more time with him and teach him lots of vampire stuff ^-^ As to why he didn’t want this arrangement initially… maybe he just didn’t want a vampire close to him at first? I’m just speculating too ahahaha

    • Charbz

      @[PR]doza
      You are mostly correct, but basically at first he thought the newbie, probably low class vampire butler can just take care of easier tasks during the day time, and have the professional butler look after him at night. He then found out the generation of the vampire and his clueless-ness and decided he wanted to teach him. It was probably E.X. that taught him the vampire abilities he knows in the main story.

    • [PR]Trespasserby

      @Charbz
      That’s what I think too. But I’d also like to think X also changed his mind in part because he somewhat liked Charles after talking to him. (Although his main motivation was definitely to avoid going crazy at seeing such a waste of a fifth generation vampire.)

      Charles does explicitly say in the main story that X was the one who taught him everything about being a vampire. I want to see what he taught Charles after that brief visit he had in Sunset City. We haven’t had the chance to see Charles in action since then.

  3. Hikari

    Ohhhhh. Well this is delicious side story. >:D I can’t wait to see how X taught young Charles. ^_^

  4. Mizzy

    Well, it’s not like Charles can forever depend on his family’s influence in order to survive. A vampire with no combat ability is a sitting duck. E.X. becoming his teacher/mentor makes a lot of sense on how he learned some ‘basic’ skills. But since he’s being taught by one of the best, I guess he is oblivious to that back then. Especially since he didn’t seem to stay with his mother’s side’s family to be a vampire-in-training. And it’s like a young adorable Elaro. Who cannot resist such innocence?

  5. ~RenTheWitch~

    Im lost about how this generation thing works, from 1 to 15, 1 is the more powerful? or is it 15? what? wut? huh? im confused

    • [PR]Trespasserby

      @~RenTheWitch~
      The ranking system goes the lower the number the better. (Like 5th place being better than 10th place.)
      Charles is a 5th generation vampire. Generation 5 is actually the lowest the vampire generation number can go, since generation 4 and earlier no longer exist.

      If a human is turned into a vampire, the new vampire’s generation number will be one higher than the vampire who bit him/her. For example, if Charles (5th generation) turns a human into a vampire, that new vampire’s generation count will be one higher than Charles’s (6th generation) and will be weaker than Charles. (5th place is better than 6th place.)

      Countess Avexila and Charles are the same generation number (5th) because Charles is a pureblood. The number only goes up when a human becomes a vampire.

    • MaplePanda

      @[PR]Trespasserby
      Then how do pureborn vampires come about? If the generation number only goes up when it’s a human-turn-vampire, that means… the Countess could have been given her first kiss by a gen 4 vamp? Or was born from a gen 4 vamp, and somewhere down the bloodline one of these gen 4 vamps had received their first kiss from a gen 3 vamp?
      So it’s like, human-turn-vamp mates with another human/human-turn-vamp to get a pureborn? and the only true vampires were the first gen?
      Now I’m confused too about the whole gen thing… I hope you don’t mind explaning further :)

    • Mizzy

      @MaplePanda
      I think it goes like this:
      1st Gen Vampire bites human; this human becomes a 2nd Gen Vampire.
      2nd Gen Vampire bites human; this human becomes a 3rd Gen Vampire.
      3rd Gen Vampire bites human; this human becomes a 4th Gen Vampire.
      And the cycle continues.

      Countess Avexila is a 5th Generation Vampire. Charles is natural-born vampire. Natural-born (pureblood) vampires have the same generation # as their parent.

      Technically, a human who is turned into a vampire has a “higher” generation # than the vampire that bit them. Whereas a “Pureblood” or Vampire offspring retains the same generation # as the “biological parent”.

      And Charles is referred to as a pureblood (vampire offspring), but he’s technically a halfie. Human dad, Vampire mom. But I guess anything and anyone with a vampire’s blood is a vampire and it doesn’t make them any less a vampire.

    • Mizzy

      @MaplePanda
      Pureblood vampires are basically direct-descendants / biological children of vampires. They come from the fertilization of either a vampire sperm cell or egg cell. They come out from wherever they are supposed to be coming out when they are born…

      I think the origins of the vampire has yet to be explained in the next volumes, if there is any.

    • MaplePanda

      @Mizzy
      Thank you for your reply too :) It’s quite similar to what Trespasserby said, as in the concept. I guess I was just confused about the whole irony (?) of the thing – Like a vampire that was originally human could give birth to a pureborn vampire. I guess I might have been unconsciously trying to relate things here to that Vampire Knight series… which is that the vampire offspring of a vampire that was originally human is not considered pureborn, if i remember correctly (it’s been a long while since I read that series).

      But this new idea of pureborn vampires in the No Hero universe works just as well! Thanks Mizzy and Trespasserby

    • [PR]Trespasserby

      =’D Actually, Mizzy replied first, but the comment wasn’t approved until later. PR! staff comments go through without having to be screened, so they show up right after they’re sent.

    • [PR]Trespasserby

      @MaplePanda
      While I’m not sure about the Countess’s background specifically (I’m only a little farther ahead than the rest of you in No Hero.), most of the things you wrote sound like what I think too. The Countess should have been given a First Kiss by a 4th generation or born to another 5th generation.

      After chatting with [PR]Raylight, it sounds like there isn’t much more information out there about how pureblood vampires are made. But I don’t think that it matters whether the vampire mother was previously a human or a pureborn herself, or whether the father needs to be a human/human-turned-vampire.

    • ~RenTheWitch~

      @[PR]Trespasserby
      Took me forever to read this! busy studying i totally forgot lol and remembered today after reading new episode. TY so much for explaining ;) now i understand

  6. KT

    Charles was pretty clueless back then! He’s lucky he met X. And no wonder he felt indebted to X later.

  7. Kil

    Waaah Charles!! you. are. so. dang. adoraable!!! X)
    sighh. ah tho I admit that in here, I’m imagining him as a child, tho he’s actually already 20 y/o. Hm but then, he IS still a child, anyway! Since 20 y/o is actually very very young for a vampire.
    Aww what a nice treat this is! Esp. since my acads life is rather very demanding right now. Ah well, fight-o! Ohh!
    Thanks a lot, PR! Definitely looking forward for the next installment!

  8. tsukiyo

    wow i’m so interested in charles’ father… since he only talked a bit about his father in the main story… and Charles, you’re so cute, being so innocent like that…

  9. Chicaalterego

    I was away from this site for ages, and Im pleasently surprised this has extras…

    There is a mistake, though: the first time X offers Charles a job he says Charles will be the buttler for the day and his father take charge in the night; then, at the end of the chapter, its the father on thenday and Charles on the evenings.

    Anyway, I like this. Thanks for sharing!

  10. rose

    I have my suspicions about E.X. ‘s Generation number… somehow, I think it’s less than 5…
    As for the lady, she has to be a vampire too, right? I wonder what generation?

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