The Blood of Dawnwalker: Where to Find Albertus in the Middens

Albertus is the half-mad monk you need for A Monk and a Saint, the quest that eventually points Coen toward St. Mihai’s sword. He lives in the Middens, the plague-gutted slum on the western edge of Svartrau City, and the game never drops a precise pin on his door. Instead it hands you a trail of glowing wall scribbles and expects you to read every one.

Quick answer: Fast travel to Svartrau West, head north into the Middens, then keep Focus Mode on and inspect each yellow wall writing in sequence. The trail ends at a wooden house buried under scribbles — Albertus is inside.

Middens location: Svartrau West fast travel point

The Middens sits directly north of the Svartrau West fast travel point, in the western outskirts of Svartrau City. It is the fastest way in, and it drops you a short run from the first marker. Once the quest is active you also get a map marker pointing at the district, but that marker stops being useful the moment you are inside the alleys.

Expect the district to be mostly empty of friendly faces. The plague cleared it out, undead dogs prowl the streets, and the survivors who are left will not help you. One sobbing dweller sits in the middle of the route and says nothing useful about Albertus at all, so do not waste time on him.

Follow the writings on the walls to Albertus’ house

The objective reads “Follow the writings on the walls,” and it means that literally. Each glyph must be inspected before the next one is flagged. Skipping ahead does not shortcut anything — the trail simply stops updating.

Enter the Middens through the wooden gate, turn left, and cross into the small courtyard marked with a red cross on the wall. That cross is a plague marking and confirms you are on the right street.

Hold Focus Mode (L2 on PlayStation, LT on Xbox) and walk into the dark passage ahead. Inspect the first cluster of yellow writing there to update the quest and start the trail properly.

Coen moves through a dark Middens passage with the Follow the writing objective active — The objective tracker switches to “Follow the writing” once the first glyph is inspected. Image: Rebel Wolves

Continue down the street, checking walls on both sides as you go. The glyphs are painted at odd heights and around corners, so sweep with Focus Mode rather than sprinting through.

Yellow wall writings glow along a Middens corridor during A Monk and a Saint — Focus Mode paints each writing yellow, which is the only reliable way to keep the trail going. Image: Rebel Wolves

Push through to the end of the trail, where a wooden house is covered almost completely in the same yellow scrawl. Go inside. Albertus is there, and he is clearly not well after years alone in this district.

Both thug ambushes on the route

Two groups of hostiles sit on the trail, and neither can be skipped by running past. The first is a pair of thugs who jump you in an alleyway partway along the route. Kill them and the path opens again.

Coen strikes a highlighted enemy in melee during the first Middens ambush — The first ambush drops two thugs on you in a narrow alley. Image: Rebel Wolves

The second group is three thugs blocking the street further along. Walking up to them triggers a dialogue cutscene with three options, and one of them ends in a fight.

Dialogue option	Result
I’ll pay (200)	Buys your way past with coin
I’ll be gone soon.	Talks fail and the three thugs attack
Wrong man to rob.	Threat response

Coen locks onto a marked swordsman with a red health bar during the three-thug fight — Choosing “I’ll be gone soon.” starts the three-on-one brawl in the street. Image: Rebel Wolves

Lock onto one target at a time in these fights. The alleys are tight, and letting all three surround you is the main way the encounter goes badly.

Damage numbers pop off a highlighted enemy as Coen attacks in the Middens — Focused single-target attacks clear the blockade faster than swinging into the group. Image: Rebel Wolves

Talking to Albertus: the correct answers

Albertus rambles and will not answer a straight question. To get anywhere you tell him you are looking for Saint Mihai’s sword, then pick up the piece of charcoal so you can write to him instead of speaking. From there he tests whether you actually know the saint’s legend, and only the correct sequence gets him talking about the sword.

Order	Answer
1	Abelard the Sorrowful
2	Svartrau Plaza
3	His penance, the place of his redemption
4	Never once set foot inside it
5	St. Mihai, a great warrior, arrived at Vale Sangora

Get all five right and Albertus confirms the sword is buried somewhere beneath the cathedral, which is your next lead. Before you leave the house, grab the Herbal Remedies I Manual from the pile of discarded junk inside.

Why the trail stalls or Albertus never appears

There are only a few reasons the search breaks down, and none of them are bugs.

The quest is not unlocked yet. A Monk and a Saint starts on its own once Echoes of Silenced Bells is done and you finish either Night Terrors or Between the Worlds. Anca is the one who gives up Albertus’ location.
You skipped a writing. Coen has to read each glyph before the next is marked. If nothing new is highlighting, backtrack and inspect the last one you ran past.
Focus Mode is off. The scribbles blend into the walls without it, especially in the dark passages.
The thugs are still alive. Both encounters gate the route forward.

You know you have the right building when the walls outside are solid yellow writing rather than a single marker, and stepping through the door puts you straight into conversation with the monk. From there the trail moves on to Svartrau Cathedral, where finding St. Mihai’s symbol is the next thing standing between you and the crypt.