"And that theory is backed by physical evidence, artifacts, and even living witnesses - it's been published in actual history books and used in education, not some flowery webnovel garbage you're always reading!"
Royce snapped back at Felix.
And just like that, the two of them dove into an endless argument, neither willing to back down. That's when Ethan suddenly noticed something odd - they looked uncannily alike.
Both had long, jet-black eyes, a sharply defined Grecian nose, and thin, masculine lips. The only difference was that Felix looked like a smaller, softer, more childlike version of Royce.
"Okay, okay! Please! I'm begging you - can we stop arguing and just focus on the current situation?"
Ethan half-pleaded, half-scolded. He didn't have the luxury of unlimited time like these bickering baby Vampires.
He needed Harmony Town to return to normal as soon as possible. Only then could he leave - and escape Mr. Silvan's daily "Escape from Vampire" training sessions. Best of all, he wouldn't have to keep forcing distance between himself and Autumn anymore.
"Fine! Then we'll skip the major events after 1884 - like the Revolution that overthrew the Royal House, the anti-colonial wars, the Hunter Guild civil war, the Great Famine, the 1945 Covenant, the founding of the Council, the Unification Era, and the Reconstruction Era - all of which drastically reduced the Vampire population in Vietnam…"
Autumn cleared her throat and took over the storytelling in place of Royce.
"Okay, fair enough. I'll look into those events later. I think Camellia's Library has a bunch of Vampire History books."
Ethan tried to sound respectful, especially after catching the disappointed look Autumn gave him.
Coming from a family that valued the natural sciences, Ethan had always preferred math, physics, and chemistry over social studies and history.
He barely knew the history of humans, let alone that of Vampires. But now, he knew he had no choice but to catch up - little by little.
"Harmony Town today is one of the largest Vampire Communities in Vietnam. The key traits of these Vampire Communities are as follows:
Rule #1: There must be a Council with at least three Elders representing Full-Blooded Vampires, Humans, and Hybrid/Semi-Vampires.
Rule #2: The community must accept oversight from the Vampire Hunter Guild.
Rule #3: Any Vampire entering or leaving administrative zones must carry a VampID.
To be issued a VampID, you must agree to and meet all requirements of the BLOOD LAW - which is super long, so I'll explain that another time."
"Hybrid…?"
Ethan mumbled. He was starting to feel mentally fogged again under the weight of so much new information.
Political and social structures, in particular, hit his brain harder than any historical lesson ever could.
"A Semi-Vampire is a human who was lucky enough to successfully transform into a Vampire - that's something I've explained before. And a Hybrid Vampire is the offspring of a Full-Blooded Vampire and a Hybrid or Semi, or just generally a Vampire and a human. Most Vampires nowadays are Hybrids. Like me, for example - my mom's Full-Blooded and my dad's a Semi."
Autumn added, noticing the dazed expression on Ethan's face. His brain was clearly getting scrambled trying to keep up with Vampire classification systems.
"There are some modern Vampire rights theorists who argue that we shouldn't even separate Vampires into Full-Blooded, Hybrid, Semi, or Null anymore. According to them, Fulls, Hybrids, and Semis should all just be called Vampires, plain and simple. Nulls are basically just regular humans. And they say we should treat even the Feral Vampires who can still speak human language with basic decency."
Felix butted in again.
"Shut it already."
Royce bonked him on the head, hard - just like how older brothers discipline annoying younger ones.
"Alright! Focus, everyone! Let me continue."
Autumn clapped loudly, getting the boys' attention. Her tone and presence were so commanding that Ethan began to suspect she might secretly have a teaching license or something.
Ethan quickly dug through his backpack, pulled out a sketchpad and a pen. This time, he was going to map everything out as a mind map just to make sense of it all.
"As we know, Harmony Town is a seaside town in a tropical country. So naturally, outbreaks of dengue fever tend to occur every late summer to autumn."
"At first, no one noticed anything strange. The Infected showed symptoms exactly like dengue patients: high fever, prolonged fever, fatigue, rashes. So most people just stayed home and took some fever meds."
"It wasn't until the seventh day of fever that people realized something was off - patients suddenly became afraid of wind, afraid of water, afraid of sunlight. Then they started vomiting blood, acting agitated, convulsing, and trying to bite others - just like they had rabies."
"By then, it was too late, and people started calling emergency services. But the first patients were admitted far too late. In early August, there were at least five cases of Infected transforming into Feral Vampires - right after they drank the blood of their own family members or bit the doctors and nurses at the Town Hospital."
"Immediately, the Field Hospital was set up inside the Ancient Fortress. The Infected and those bitten by Feral Vampires were transferred there for treatment. As for the Feral Vampires… experienced combat Vampires volunteered to escort them to their final rest."
Ethan shuddered. He understood perfectly well what Autumn's euphemism meant about the fate of those Feral Vampires.
"The initial suspicion fell on Vampires currently living in town, and those who frequently entered or exited Harmony. The Council ordered all Vampires to undergo blood tests for Vampitoxin levels and to be monitored for external symptoms for 14 days. But none of the Vampires in that group showed any signs of 'blood addiction.'"
"Biologically speaking, if a Vampire consumes 200ml of human blood daily for a week, or drinks 1.5 liters of blood in one go, their body will show clear symptoms. Their fangs and claws won't retract, their irises will be stained blood-red, and prominent veins will appear on certain parts of their skin. On top of that, their skin becomes much more sensitive to sunlight."
"At that point, Elder Fidelis demanded that all Vampires stay wherever they were. But Elder Richie argued that without Vampire strength, how could humans possibly subdue the Infected? So Vampires were still allowed to move freely within the town. Elder Fidelis was furious, but couldn't do anything."
"As for my family, since we live just outside of town, we didn't step into Harmony at all until the end of August. Even though I'm enrolled in homeschooling, we all had to help Spring at the Field Hospital. So I barely studied during that time - just enough to take the beginning-of-year assessment exam."
Ethan nodded slowly.
Now he understood why Autumn hadn't shown up at school during August and the first half of September.
He also made a mental note of the word Vampitoxin. It reminded him of another strange term Autumn had mentioned before - Vampenom. He definitely needed to ask her about both of those later.
"The next suspicion was directed at Vampires without a VampID who might've slipped in disguised as human tourists. You know, Harmony Town used to be famous for its Paradise Beach. But by mid-August, it was typhoon season, and all the tourists had already cleared out."
"Yet somehow, the number of Infected in town kept rising over time. Every two or three days, there was a new case. The patients were completely random - men and women, young and old, fat and thin, ugly and beautiful, healthy and chronically ill alike."
"After that, Spring submitted an autopsy report to the Council…"
Autumn's honey-brown eyes widened as she gazed off into the distance. She bit her lip slightly. Her expression was… strange. As if torn between wanting to tell everything - and needing to keep something hidden.