The next morning, Yalgri came to Alden's room as soon as the sun started to rise. The look on his face was not a happy one, but he briefed Alden as he ate.
"Halvor, Wolf Breaker. Served in the military during the Iron War over twenty years ago. Saved the previous Baron Lundri's life and was awarded the position of Mayor for his feats. The man controls this entire town, so we'll have to tread lightly."
"If he controls everything, then surely he knows who the necromancer is? Is that the reasoning we are going by?"
"It's all we have, he's cultivated a bunch of sycophants around himself so that means nearly everyone's loyalty lies with him. That leads me to another thing we could use your help on."
"What is it?" Alden frowned, wondering what kind of headache this would give him.
"Your uh bird"
"Huginn"
"Yes, Huginn, how well trained is she? I would like to send a message for reinforcements to Lady Lundri. She would be able to convince her father, Baron Lundri to send help."
"Well…" Alden didn't exactly know how to respond. Huginn also seemed to have the same reaction as she looked at Alden with her beak open.
CAW!
"She's extremely smart, I think you can try your best to give her directions to the Baron."
"So no training at all? That's not a good sign, but she's the only one who can make it over them." Yalgri sighed as he took out a map.
While Alden got ready and finished off his food, Yalgri was explaining the route to Huginn. When he was done talking, he tied a message securely to her leg.
"You'll need this as well, hopefully, they won't try to shoot you with an arrow since you're a sign of death."
Yalgri wrapped an ornate-looking necklace around Huginn that had a small emblem attached to it. Alden guessed that it was the Baron's coat of arms since he had seen it on the others' armor.
"Remember, watch your words… and your back. As soon as we leave this room, you'll be under the full scrutiny of the Mayor."
"This is his mansion, after all, I would expect no less. I'm surprised he let you put me here."
"It's the best place to put you, he can't make a move against you so easily in his own home. It would look too suspicious to us, and he can't touch us at all as auditors."
With preparations complete, they left the room and headed toward the roof. And just like Yalgri had said, the staff and guards all gave Alden stares.
"Remember, the Lady has long brown hair and should be dressed better than anyone else. And the Baron is bald, so it should be easy to find him if the Lady is not seen." Yalgri reiterated to Huginn as he held out sketches of the Lady and the Baron. He felt like it was a sign of how desperate they were that he was trying to talk to a bird.
CAW
"These look pretty good, did you draw them yourself?" Alden held Huginn in front of the pictures, she already remembered their likeness but Yalgri didn't need to know just how smart Huginn was.
"A knight needs to hold many talents, Fleyn and Nylane are both as good if not better. The Captain and Aster on the other hand…"
Alden held Huginn and petted her one last time. He had grown very fond of her, and would miss her. He could only hope her journey didn't have any troubles along the way.
"Return safety."
CAW!
As if she was trying to ease his fears, Huginn hopped around spiritedly before finally taking off into the sky. Her figure grew smaller and smaller into the distance before becoming completely unseen.
"Alright, where do we start?"
Alden turned to Yalgri who was going through some documents as he was waiting. Yalgri handed Alden some of the papers before hesitating and taking them back.
"What is it?"
"I forgot you came from a village nearby, the literacy rates are only high for rich commoners and nobles. I'll explain-"
"I can read!" Alden frowned as he interjected and snatched the papers from Yalgri.
"We have rules you know. A commoner does not grab anything from a knight if they're not allowed." Yalgri said as he pointed his sword at Alden. In a split second, he had drawn it up, blade and handle glinting, to Alden's torso.
"That's not a way to ask for help, is it now ?"
Alden pushed Yalgri's blade away with his fingers on the flat edge, he then turned to the papers and started to browse them.
"Perhaps, Nylane was too nice to you. A lesson in etiquette would do wonders for you. But I'm surprised, how were you able to learn in that village of yours?"
"My parents, they could read and write and they taught me. My father had some old heirlooms that were books that had been copied by hand." Alden said as he looked up after he was done reading the papers.
"These are just reports on deaths and injuries in the mines. What's your angle on this?"
Yalgri looked around before speaking in a low hushed tone.
"There are many unexplained deaths and injuries. Where best to practice necromancy than on the readily available bodies? I'm leaning towards either a doctor or a coroner. Somewhere in that chain of custody is where I think the suspect is."
"I think we need to talk to the miners ourselves. The draugr were in the mines, so we need to look down there for more clues."
"That's ridiculous! You were down there, you know how dangerous it is, if we get ambushed, it's over!"
"Fine, we'll compromise. Let's talk to everyone who was involved in the most recent reported incident. It said the miner suddenly stopped and fell over, he was dead before he hit the floor."
Alden took the relevant report and handed it to Yalgri. He examined it for a second before nodding in agreement with Alden's plan.