Kuro nodded as he closed his eyes in contemplation. It was indeed odd that he was the only one who could be called as an Elder; Chiyo was a Greater Vampire, but in the end, the fact remains that more than half of the group were merely fledglings. Topping it all is the fact that there was an 11 year old vampire! She was only a child of night for only a decade and a year; she could barely be of any help should the hunters collapse on them. However, times have changed. Before, only the strongest would remain because of power and authority; everyone wanted to be a Greater Vampire, much less to be an Elder. Just as times have changed, so did the humankind. The humans knew that only the powerful ones were of any real threat to them, hence, they were able to develop intricate methods and systems to track down these powerful vampires. 

When the war ended in the defeat of the vampires, most of the greater vampires and even some elders were hunted down by the Black Swords. Fledglings were able to survive because the hunters didn't deem them to be of any threat and would only expend resources to kill them if they would meet one or if a fledgling was running amok. After the war, many of the greater vampires and elders fled Japan, and went off to other locations to salvage themselves. However, those who were too weak to slide between sunbeams, and move unseen by the Black Swords were forced to stay behind. They would escape if they could... If only the hunters would let them.

Kuro thought of these things slowly as he raised his head and opened his mouth to speak. 

"Priscilla-dono, times have changed. As I have said, the humans are getting more and more technologically advanced, especially Japan. The humans know that the ones who pose a danger to society would be the vampires of greater ranks. Hence, through the time that has passed, the Black Swords have hunted down any notorious high-ranking vampire they could lay their hands on. In this case, the surviving high-ranking vampires fled Japan to save themselves from a grisly demise. Food isn't as easily acquired now as it was before. The fledglings survived because the Black Swords didn't deem them too much of a threat to waste their resources on; they needed to save what they have in case... a powerful one comes." Kuro made a little gesture with his pinky finger towards Priscilla, trying to make her understand that perhaps the Black Swords were amassing their defenses to counter HER arrival. 

Kuro shook his head, deciding that it was useless to try to look tough and gallant.

"I admit. I did try to flee when the war began. I just didn't see the point of the war, and so I planned to leave Japan, and I would have... I would have left if I didn't receive news that the descendants of the ONE who killed my Lady would be in Japan; he was a Black Sword. Hence, I stayed to confirm the rumors. The vampires of Japan grew too arrogant of their ability, and for that, I was disgusted of them. However, I couldn't leave my Lady unavenged and so... I stayed in hopes of finding [i]that[/i] person." Kuro continued as he inserted each of his arms into the kimono sleeves. "If in the old times, age and power decided the safety of a vampire... Now, that isn't the case. The more powerful, the more known, and the more threatening we become, the more danger we put ourselves in. We can't simply jump in and kill the humans... It's different now. A fledgling is the safest rank for a vampire in Japan to be, it's the only rank where you can live longer than the other levels. The reason why I, and perhaps Chiyo, are still kicking in this age is because we stayed low-profile. We didn't engage or kill a human in the open, nor did we leave any trace. We hypnotized and placed them in the cellar, and we don't do it regularly. We do it on random times so as to not attract unwanted attention." Kuro tilted his head as he sighed. "In short, the reason why there are more fledglings would be because... a lot of high-ranking vampires have fled, or worst case scenario, been slain."

Kuro rubbed his chin in thought.

"Hisako is talented in hypnosis. She was able to hypnotized a group of men to build this shack. The reason why there are no hunters here is because no one knows of Hisako's existence. She hid herself perfectly that records of this sanctuary is extremely limited; I would even say that most hunters wouldn't know that this sanctuary existed. It's not because they couldn't find out, rather, it's because they didn't [i]bother[/i] to do so because the founder is a fledgling, and rarely, do older vampires listen to fledglings. If anyone found out about this shack, they would just deem it as a Low-Level Threat. That is the reason why there are a lot of fledglings but little older ones."

The lad yawned as he continued.

"Speaking of threat, the only real danger that this sanctuary has is you and I, Priscilla-dono. A convergence of an Ancient and an elder vampire is enough reason for them to launch an all-out assault. Should the humans be able to detect our presence, specifically, YOUR presence... Even those children at the shack will suffer. As of the moment, we are the greatest threat to the sanctuary." Kuro smiled weakly as he closed his eyes.