Secondary quests are not created equal in The Witcher 3. During some secondary quests you’ll determine the fate of nations, allocate crowns to worthy monarchs, determine the fate of your friends and spark new romances (or rekindle old ones)… and in some cases you’ll open some books in search of an anonymous message left for you in a random bookstore in Novigrad. This page will provide a walkthrough for the secondary quest Message from an Old Friend in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

Quest Objectives¶

Starting Message from and Old Friend¶

To start this quest, enter the “Books and Scrolls” shop along the northeastern corner of Hierarch Square in Novigrad, whereupon the proprietor, one Marcus T.K. Hodgson, will exclaim at your appearance. Talk to him and he’ll explain that a man stopped by years ago to keep a book for Geralt, or at least a man of Geralt’s rather unique appearance. After describing the book to you he’ll try to lure you into making a purchase - peruse his wares or decline, and either way this quest will begin.

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(1 of 2) Find a bookstore along the northeastern corner of Hierarch Square,

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Find a bookstore along the northeastern corner of Hierarch Square, (left), whereupon the proprietor, Marcus T.K. Hodgson will exclaim at your appearance. (right)

Find the Book with the Red Cover¶

While searching for a specific book in a bookstore may be akin to finding a needle in a haystack, for a Witcher it’s a mild chore, at worst. Just use your Witcher senses and you’ll see various books highlighted around the shop. They’re also quest items, so they’ll be swirling with glowing motes of light, just to make them extra hard to miss. The books you’ll find by searching like this are, in order:

• The Merry Adventures of Muriel the Lovely Harlot, Illustrated Edition
• The Treatment of Furuncles Through Cauterization: A Study
• My Manifesto - The Life of Jacques de Aldersberg
• Moribunda: The Vampire’s Last Likeness
• Tyromancy, or the Noble Art of Cheese Divination

Just keep your Witcher senses active, head upstairs and search for a book near a second flight of stairs to find My Manifesto - The Life of Jacques de Aldersberg. Pick up and read this book and you’ll also discover a Letter from “A” inside. Reading it will finish this quest, earning you 50 EXP and 51 Crowns in the process. Not a bad reward for such a simple quest. Of course, you can take and read all the other aforementioned books if you wish.

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Talk to the owner, then search for the book he told you about. You’ll find this book, “My Manifesto - The Life of Jacques de Aldersberg” on a shelf on the second floor, near some stairs.