Of course the guy wasn’t believing him. Of fucking course. Laurence didn’t expect anything different, but he had hoped that he at least could instill some fear and common sense into the man with his statement. Just as he was about to open his mouth to order for the man to get overpowered, because he wouldn’t let him get shredded by beasts, he wasn’t that heartless, did the bodyguard of the man calm him down. Reynolds was his name, hm, Laurence should remember this. If he could remember. He was awful with names… “I think you have the exact right bodyguard.”, Laurence whispered to himself when the man started to shit on his own employee. Not a good way to keep them around, especially if they hadn’t messed up. “I planned to give you a room each in the church anyway.”, Laurence spoke at Reynold’s request. “You can stay until sunrise and then leave.” He looked at his church servant and made a gesture at them. “My church servants will show you the rooms you can use, if you require a meal, tell them and they will organize something for you. Just don’t expect a meal that is worth for a king or anything, we are a church here after all. Oh, but I have to ask you to please behave for the remainder of your stay. My church servants need their sleep, so I would cherish it if you wouldn’t scream anymore.” He also had scared all the cats away already, that bastard. Secretly Laurence hoped that one of them would visit him in the night and he would wake up with a few nasty scratches.

He had heard that whisper. Reynolds didn’t reacted to it much though, except giving a hint of a smile for a short moment. Yeah. No. He really didn’t thought he had the right to ask that of the vicar after his employer had made such a scene. No matter if he had actually nothing to do with that much. He was still the bodyguard of this guy. After Laurence spoke, the man bowed to him, obvously more greatful than the businessman who stood behind him with crossed arms, and looking away with a very annoyed look on his face, He apparently didn’t felt like staying here. Not even for a night. But he already had agreed to it.

“ Thank you, Vicar. And I promise that we won’t disturb anyone this night anymore. I make sure of that. “

The mage spoke, bowing again, and kind of whispering that last sentence, before smiling at Laurence. He will really make sure that the businessguy isn’t going to cause any trouble anymore this night. He had done so enough. And the church servants here didn’t deserved that, and neither the vicar. Before some of the church servants did lead them to their rooms, Reynolds turned to Laurence for a moment again.

“ Then I wish you a good night, Vicar. “

Laurence couldn’t help but roll his eyes another time at the outburst. He had seen guys like this countless times. They weren’t worth his time or his attention and he certainly didn’t want their money. This guy thought he was the most important person in the world. Time to rub even more salt into the wound. “I don’t know and I don’t care.”, Laurence said, right before the man ran out of the room, knocking the chair over. Sighing, Laurence already wanted to get up to pick the chair up, when his bodyguard instead did it and apologized to him. “You are much more well behaved than your master.”, Laurence said, giving the bodyguard the tiniest hint of a smile. “Yes, I wish for a quiet as well…”, he murmured once the bodyguard had left his office, knowing that he would worry about Gehrman and Maria like every night, when they went through Yharnam and found the beasts that escaped from the labyrinths… or even worse… the ones that once have been human… The quiet  night clearly wouldn’t be able to have had though, for he could hear the scream of the man even in his office. Oh right, the curfew. A glance out of the window told him the sun just had went down. There was no way his church servants would be able to handle this guy, so he went into the direction of the scream, where the man stood, very much furious and spoke. “Well, if you would have bothered to learn the rules of Yharnam, you would know about the curfew after sundown.”, he said, gesturing for the church servants to make room for him. He stepped closer to the man and said, in a honeyed, but very fake voice: “Of course you can go out if you wish… If you wish to die a brutal and uncomfortable death.” Laurence didn’t elaborate on this, waiting for the horror to spread on the man’s face. After his interrupted routine, it would be a delight.

Heh ‘master’. Reynolds wouldn’t exactly go so far to call his client that. Yes, he is protecting him and does as he says, but that has it’s limits. He knows where he is drawing the line, no matter how much the man pays him. He also had heard what Laurence had murmured. He had sounded somehow worried, yet the man didn’t saw himself in the right to ask about it. Also he had to go look after his client before he gets himself injured, or rather bothers even more people. 

The businessman was screaming, and ranting as he tried to squeeze past the church servants who blocked his way to prevent him from leaving, and as soon as the mercenary approached his attention was immediately at him, and the pointed at the church servants.

“ YOU! Get this IDIOTS out of my way! NOW! “

He barks his order at Reynolds, who already opened his mouth to say something but closed it again when he heard the vicar speaking. A curfew? Why did they had that? The mage had to be honest that he hadn’t knew anything about it, but... he had trusted that his client knows about any rules or something in Yharnam. Guess he was wrong. 

The noble didn’t seemed impressed by Laurence’s words, and just thought he was trying to fool him. Especially when he spoke in such a honeyed voice. It made the man obviously pissed again, because his whole face went red once again. 

“ PAH! As if I would give a shit about a threat like that! We are going to leave! Curfew or not! My bodyguard here will protect me anyway against anything! “

And with that he turned around to leave again, squeezing past the church servants, and expecting Reynolds to follow him. And as much as the mercenary disliked the man, he can’t let him die or get badly injured. So with a few quick steps he was behind his client, and put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. 

“ Look, Sir... I really appreciate your... trust in my competence to protect you. Still, I strongly believe there is a reason for this curfew they have, and whatever that reason is, I doubt I would be able to stop it. “

Reynolds spoke, and smiled a little as the noble turned around to try and calm him down. Which apparently was working, because the man already seemed to calm down a little. He was usually good at calming people down. 

“ Let us just wait until sunrise, and then we can leave, alright? “

The business man then crossed his arms, and looked away. It seemed almost like as if he was pouting like a child. 

“ Tsk... Fine, Reynolds. Hmph, always the voice of reason... I should have choosen a different bodyguard... “

He mumbled, though the mercenary ignored his words, and rather turned towards Laurence with a small smile. Now he had to just de-escalate the whole situation with the Vicar. So this time, he takes over the talking.

“ Vicar. I know I don’t really have any right to ask for this after this... misunderstanding you had with my client. But would it be alright if we stayed here until sunrise? “

Laurence rolled his eyes at this guy. He wished Florence would have still been there, she would have been able to shoo this guy away, but the poor black robe that had got him, had been completely powerless against this guy. Alright, he could at least hear about what he had to say… though the way that he completely disregarded the rules of the church already already made Laurence disinterested. It only got worse with every single spoken word. Had this guy learned even a SINGLE thing about the Healing Church? Nobody invested in the church, they donated to it and in turn got… “privileges.” But he completely lost interest when the guy wanted to get the blood out of Yharnam. That he would never let happen! It was worse enough that the tainted blood made its way to Cainhurst! “Let me get this straight.”, Laurence said, crossing his arms and giving the business man a look. “You barge into my church, completely disregard the rules…” He uncrossed his arms and raised one hand to count with this fingers. “And then you expect for me to start exporting the blood?” Laurence gave the man a glare: “We have rules here in Yharnam… rules you completely ignored to learn. Nobody invests in the church. The church runs on donations. The blood stays in Yharnam. The ill come to us, not the other way around.” Laurence slowly stood up and then whisper-hissed: “I am not interested in any of your ‘deals’ so get the fuck out of my church.”

Reynolds wasn’t one to take pleasure in it when others got their ass handed over to them. Or in this case when someone is being called out on their bullshit. Now though, he really had to resist to chuckle or smirk when the businessman got lectured by Laurence. He is absolutely on the vicar’s side here, even though he isn’t working for him but for the noble. He didn’t learned their rules, he couldn’t even make a god damn appointment, and he was disrespectful the second he took a foot into the town. Actually, Reynolds thought he deserved that lecture, and instead of saying anything he just stood still, hand behind his back, and watched the scene.

The noble on the otherhand seemed like he was going to explode any second. He probably never had anyone lecturing him like Laurence did, and obviously had no idea how to react to it at all. When the vicar finsihed though, the businessman jumped up from his seat. And he apparently had to hold himself back from screaming at the other. 

“ How dare you talk to me like this! Do YOU even know who I AM? Donations?!? You could get fucking rich with the blood! Pah! Who am I kidding? You church morons are all the same! I don’t know why I came all the way here to waste my time! “

The man almost screamed, and turned around to leave but knocked the chair over while doing so. He didn’t stopped to pick it up though, and rather pulled the door to Laurence office open, and went outside. The mercenary stood there for a moment, watching his client leave, before sighning, and walking over just to pick the chair up and place it where it should be. Then his gaze went to the vicar, and he gave him an apologetic smile.

“ Uhm... I’m sorry for his behavior, Vicar... I told him to make an appointment with you, and wait until tomorrow but... he is a bit stubborn. “

The knight spoke, and bowed his head towards Laurence before turning as well to leave. If the vicar was going to be angry at him too then he would understand that as well. No one likes to be bothered at this time, and especially not to be bothered by such a man like his client.

“ I wish you a good night... Without any further disturbances. “

And then he leaves, and immediately started to look for the noble... Which wasn’t a big problem because he could already hear the man scream around. What happened now again? Apparently he was stopped from leaving the church by some church servants. 

“ WHAT DO YOU MEAN I CAN’T LEAVE? “

Russell was certain that he hadn’t seen this guy around before, and newcomers sometimes got a little bit lost. He knew he certainly had when he first moved here. 

But as usual, it felt like he had a trap rigged around his mouth and if he said the wrong thing, it would go off and everything would just go to crap.

But then Russell quickly forced himself to focus when the stranger spoke up.

“Well, um, ehehe, I uh, I wouldn’t put it, put it like that…” Russell said, “It’s, it’s just, um, h-happened to people before here, they’ve, they’ve gotten a, a bit lost I mean…”

He tugged at a sleeve briefly.

“If, if it’s um, uh, ehe, if it’s okay for me to um, to ask… where, where are, are you heading? Or well, you know, trying to?”

It was always quite bothersome to the mage when he was send to towns, and got no direction beforehand where exactly he should go there. It happened so many times before that they should have learned from that mistake. But no. The circle rather had him roaming around, getting lost, and then arriving to late. But nevermind that. It’s better to not think to much about it, and get angry.

“ Oh... I see. Good to know I am not the only one who get’s lost around here, heh. Makes it less embarrassing. “

And yet he was still embarrassed that he got lost. The other seemed kind of nervous though, and the mage hoped that it wasn’t because of him. He wasn’t all that scary, right? Reynolds didn’t saw a reason why he shouldn’t tell him where to go, though he isn’t telling the stranger exactly why he was heading there.

“ Ah, sure! I was heading to, or uh trying to reach a hotel! Uh, it’s this one- “

The man pulls then his phone out again, just to carefully open a text messenger, and showed Russell the message he had gotten with the name of the hotel, and the address. 

Unexplained? he certainly didn’t hear about anything like that here…Maybe it was because the mage didn’t explore this part of the city often enough? Though, he couldn’t help but seem somewhat disappointed when the older mage said that he hadn’t found anything.

Maybe just some rumors that held no water, then? Or maybe just some stray cat, they do make odd noises at times. But, he was certainly glad that he hadn’t seemed to interrupt anything.

“That’s good.” The younger mage said with a small smile. “…T..The fact that I didn’t interrupt anything, I mean.” He rather quickly said, voice as quiet as usual. He grabbed the man’s hand and shook it.

“My name is Jay. It’s nice to meet you, Rey.”

He seemed somehow disappointed at his answer. Or maybe Reynolds was just imagining it. Had he maybe something to do with the unexplained events? No. This guy didn’t seemed like someone who was out for troubling people with pranks or anything alike. He doubted it at least. And even if, pranks are by far the most harmless thing usually. He would rather have some kids playing pranks at the residents than anything bad to happen in the night.

The mage smiles then again when he saw Jay’s small smile. A rather nervous one, was he? It made the man feel some sympathy for him. Hopfully he didn’t seemed to scary or... something. 

“ It’s nice to meet you too, Jay. I suppose you live here? And... if you don’t mind me asking, you didn’t heard anything about these unexplainable events do you? I mean, at this point I guess it were just some kids pulling pranks at the residents, heh. “

Laurence was in a less than stellar mood when he approached the two men. Not only had they come into at a very late hour, they also were outsiders and at least one of them looked like the kind of person Laurence hated. If he was not dependent on the noblemen’s money, he would have dismissed them right away, though, he wondered just what an outsider wanted from the church. Regardless, he put up his best smile as he walked up to them: “Welcome to the Healing Church. I am Vicar Laurence. I have been informed that you wanted to talk to me, though I have to ask of you, that you make an appointment with my secretary the next time. I have simply been called because you apparently refused to leave.” Laurence opened the door to his office and walked in, motioning for the two men to follow before he sat down at his desk. “So I have been informed you have a proposal for me? Tell me about it.”

Just when the vicar spoke, Reynolds attention turned to him. And he could already tell that he was less than happy to be disturbed at this time of the day. Ah, he had told his client that it would be better to wait until the next day, and perhaps even make an appointment. But this man was so stuck up, and thought of himself as such an important person that he of course didn’t listened. So Rey can understand Laurence sour mood even if he did hide it well with his smile. 

“ Yes, yes! I did indeed wanted to talk to you, vicar! And I’m sorry but I am a businessman. I do not have time to make appointments. “

The rich nobleman spoke, not really caring at all that he perhaps should have made an appointment before barging into the church. He was very full of himself. It made the mercenary rub his eyes behind the man, so that he couldn’t see the second hand embarrassment he felt for this guy right now. He is really concidering to just quit being his bodyguard at this point...

The mage, and his client then followed after Laurence, and inside his office. The businessman took a seat in front of the vicar’s desk, but Reynolds stopped, and stayed behind his chair. His eyes then went to Laurence, and he gave him an apologetic look which his client, who immediately started to talk, couldn’t see.

“ Of course! I would like to invest in your... church! You see, I have heard of your ‘healing blood’, which supposedly can heal any injury or illness, and I think that does sound something that many people would want in other parts of the world! “

Or rather something the ill would desperatly buy and spend anything they have for, Reynolds thought a bit bitter. This businessman doesn’t want to help those people, he just wants to make as much profit of it as possible. The mercenary found it honestly just despicable. 

[ Late at night // Still Accepting! ]

He is so happy that Lilli isn’t here right now... because she would make so much fun of him. Reynolds sense of direction was less than perfect. Actually it was terrible. But there was something he was even more terrible at. Technic. And especially when it was about handling a mobile phone. Okay, he knew the simple things about it. How to send a message or call someone... but beyond that? He just never got interessted in that. And now, because he can’t find his way, he tries to use his phone to find his way. With an app that he never actually used before. And hell, this is so frustrating.

And apparently that was obvious to see that he was struggling here, because someone suddenly adressed him. The mage then looks up from the phone, and looks at the other. Oh, he looked so concerned. Was it really so obvious that he was completely lost at this point?

“ Ah... Yes, kinda, heh. Is it really that obvious? “

Reynolds let out a low, yet very annoyed, sigh while he followed his client, who was talking an awful lot, on the way to the healing church of yharnam. If he had known that this man was such an... unpleasant person he would have never accepted the job to be his bodyguard on his way to this secluded town. But hey, even he needs some mondey. Also his client was an rich nobleman, which gave the mage also the advance that he was able to get into towns and cities more easily.

When they had finally reached the church, it was already late, and it made the man wonder if they shouldn’t wait unitl the next day. At least Reynolds found it rather impolite to keep the head of the church still up at this time, but his client didn’t seemed to care. He was here to make business. With the ‘healing blood’. Whatever that actually was. He had told the mercenary about it. ‘Blood that heals any illness or injury’. That sounded almost like something magical. 

[ Late at night // Still Accepting! ]

“ I could ask you the same, young man. “

The older mage spoke, as he glanced over his shoulder at Jay. He had been investigating the area because apparently ‘strange things’ had been happened. He couldn’t find anything though so far. And even though it was already in the middle of the night, there hadn’t been any incidents. But Reynolds hadn’t also expected to meet such a jung man at this time. He wasn’t so old. Maybe 20 at best? Not that it was unusual that someone his age was still up at this time. He just hadn’t seen anyone else for quite a bit while investigating, and patrolling the area.

“ But to answer your question, I was told that strange things had been happening around here. So I wanted to investigate. “

The man explained gently with a small smile, and turned towards Jay... before he hesitated. Something on this boy... was different. Maybe magic? Possibly. For Rey it was a little hard to distinguish mages from mortals. Non-human beings were so much easily to notice...