As I struggled to think, he approached us slowly. Although I wanted to escape, my body just couldn't muster the strength. In fact, just standing there was taking all my effort.

"Don't be nervous. Actually... I'm also a vampire myself. If you're vampires too, you should be able to tell, right? If that's still not enough to make you believe me, I can show you the evidence directly..."

After saying this, Brand gently moved his lips with his fingers, revealing his two sharp fangs to us. Indeed, there were two sharp canines in his mouth, just like the ones we possessed.

"Now... do you believe me?"

Could this guy... really be a vampire?

But if he really was a vampire, what did his contradictory profession mean? Could I have misheard?

"You say you're a vampire, but your job is hunting vampires?"

"Yes, that's right."

... His voice didn't sound like he was lying.

"If... you're not here to kill us, then why are you here?"

He smiled gently and explained kindly to me, "Well, I just finished a task, but on my way back, I caught a strong scent of human blood and a faint vampire aura, so I came here to investigate. But... things are worse than I imagined. Before seeing you two like this, I actually thought those villagers were killed by you."

As Brand spoke, I already knew how he probably had guessed the answer. But to prove our innocence, I still interjected at this moment and emphasized, "We... we didn't kill those villagers, I..."

However, Brand raised his left hand slightly to stop me from continuing. He calmly interrupted me and said, "Don't worry, I know the villagers weren't killed by you, and you don't seem like the kind of people who could do such a thing. If this were your doing, these injuries wouldn't make sense. So... I'm guessing it was probably the work of the bandits, right?"

Luna and I nodded vigorously, because what Brand said was completely correct, at least up to this point.

Brand's calm analysis and judgment impressed me deeply. Even though he had just arrived here, he was able to accurately grasp the situation and make the right judgments.

If he were a clueless idiot, anyone seeing this scene would probably have taken us, the two vampires, as the culprits who killed the entire village. If things had turned out that way, we would have been doomed for sure... Just thinking about it made me shudder again.

Seeing our nervous looks, Brand simply reached out his hand and gently patted our heads, while looking at us with a reassuring smile.

"It's okay. Although I'm a vampire hunter, I only target those vampires that pose a threat to humans. Harmless beings like you two, I will ignore. So, don't worry."

After hearing Brand's reassurance, both Luna and I couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. But as the nervousness faded, the sensation of pain in my body immediately surged back, almost causing me, who was already exhausted, to faint.

"Be careful!"

But as I began to fall forward, Brand immediately stepped forward, using one hand to support my body and letting me lean lightly against his arm.

However, leaning on someone like this suddenly was quite impolite. Despite the pain in my body, I struggled to stand up and apologized to Brand:

"Sorry..."

"Are you okay?" Brand asked with a concerned look, and seeing his gentleness, I felt a bit embarrassed and quickly responded:

"Thank you, I'm fine."

Brand then examined our injuries and asked us with a puzzled tone:

"But... why haven't you healed your wounds? You've come all the way here with such serious injuries..."

"Heal our wounds?" I asked back in confusion.

If we could heal, we would have done so already. Why would we need him to remind us?

Seeing our puzzled expressions, he paused for a moment, then began to ask with concern:

"Could it be... that you're under the effect of a special attribute from a Holy Magic Armor? Or perhaps a curse that nullifies your healing abilities?"

"Holy... Magic Armor? What's that?" I completely didn't understand what he was talking about.

After exchanging glances with Luna, we both turned back to Brand and shook our heads.

Brand remained silent for a few seconds, his expression shifting from concern to suspicion.

"...You don't even know about that? How long have you been vampires?"

"Actually, we were human before we were killed... We now just realized we might be vampires."

Our situation seemed quite rare, and after hearing my words, Brand's face was filled with even more question marks.

"Hmm... Hearing you say that, I just noticed there's still a human scent on you. If it weren't for seeing you running around despite such serious injuries, it would be difficult to determine that you're vampires... Who is your blood progenitor? Is there a way for me to meet him?"

"Blood progenitor?"

Yet another new term, Luna and I just tilted our heads, pondering, unable to provide any answers.

"It's strange, don't you know who your blood progenitor is? After you transformed into vampires, didn't your blood progenitor tell you anything?"

There were too many things we didn't know. I shook my head once again, answering him helplessly:

"Well... we don't even know when we became vampires, let alone who turned us into vampires."

Brand looked at us, another moment of silence passing as he seemed to be contemplating something.

He extended his hand, touching the bloodstains on me and Luna, as he spoke:

"Sorry, but because this situation seems a bit odd... I'd like to investigate a bit. Please forgive me for taking a bit of blood from you both. Perhaps it can provide some clues."

I looked skeptical, but still allowed him to touch without resistance:

"Take our... blood?"

Brand explained:

"Don't worry, just a little will do. If it's a bloodline I'm familiar with, I can discern possible subjects from the blood type."

Just by tasting the blood, he could know who it came from? Can vampires really do that...?

After speaking, he quickly licked the blood off his hand, then carefully tasted its flavor.

Brand was very focused as he tasted our blood, his expression was very deep in thought. But after a few seconds, he froze completely, as if startled by something, looking at us with an incredulous and serious gaze:

"This... How is this possible!? There's not a trace of human blood mixed in at all? Could it be... Could you both be purebloods? No, it must be the ancient lineage of purebloods... If this is true, then things are dire."

Brand's previously composed demeanor suddenly became very tense, and we seemed to have transformed into potentially dangerous individuals that he needed to be cautious of.

However, his sudden change in attitude and his incomprehensible words only served to confuse Luna and me even more.

"Where are your parents? Do they also live in this village?"

I shook my head, answering honestly:

"Um... Even though we grew up here since childhood, we don't have parents... Because we're orphans."

"Ah..."

Upon hearing my explanation, Brand seemed to calm down. His expression became somewhat bewildered, mixed with a hint of apology. He slightly lowered his head to apologize to us and said:

"I'm sorry if I made you feel upset..."

"I don't mind. It's been a long time ago anyway, and I don't even remember what my parents looked like."

"I see... No wonder you two don't know anything. But... what exactly is going on? It's incomprehensible how such rare beings could be left in a small village like this. If other vampires were to find out about this, it could cause a huge uproar... Ah."

Perhaps noticing our uneasy expressions, he immediately stopped muttering to himself and explained to us:

"Ahem, my apologies... I think I understand what's going on now. Have you heard the legend that people bitten by vampires also become vampires themselves?"

"Yes, we've heard of that... but is it true?" I asked him.

He nodded and continued:

"Yes, it's true. In fact, the vast majority of vampires are transformed from humans. Based on your experience, that should have been the case, but in reality, your situation is different."

"Different?"

"Yes, because... you were originally vampires."

"What... what? We were originally vampires!?" I couldn't help but exclaim.

Things had escalated to this point. Even if you told me we were turned into vampires by someone, I would have to accept it. But now you're saying we were originally vampires? It's just too much to wrap my head around.

Before I could inquire further, Brand immediately explained:

"Yes, because your parents were vampires. Not only that, they were the oldest vampires in our bloodline - the 'True Ancestors.' And you are their offspring."

"Wait... wait a minute!! Are you kidding me? Until then, we were always human. If we were really born to vampire parents, wouldn't our vampire traits be obvious? Why are we only discovering this now?"

Things seemed to be getting more and more exaggerated. What on earth is going on? What are we? Just the existence of vampires is already hard for me to accept, and now you're throwing in terms like True Ancestors and bloodlines... My head is about to explode.

But Brand seemed to have an answer to my question. He calmly explained to me:

"Although it's not visible from the outside, it seems that you've been subjected to an advanced seal akin to a curse."

"A seal?!" What is that supposed to mean?!

"Yes, I think this seal completely eliminates the vampire traits in you. Although it allows you to not need blood and be unaffected by sunlight, your physical abilities become as weak as a human's... No wonder you didn't realize you were vampires before."