‘Contradiction’ quest walkthrough in Crimson Desert

The “Contradiction” quest in Crimson Desert assumes you were paying attention to what the culprits said and reading between the lines. Even if you didn’t ignore their dialogue, though, making those inferences isn’t exactly easy, since it relies on guesswork and wordplay in some cases.

Below, we break down the “Contradiction” answers in Crimson Desert and how to bring this quest to a close.

“Contradiction” walkthrough in Crimson Desert

The “Contradiction” quest begins as soon as you finish questioning the last suspect in “The Missing Forbidden Book” quest.

It directs you back to the library in Scholastone’s main building where you first talked with the Institute Steward, so head back and interact with them again. He’ll start going over testimonies with you and ask for your input about five points of interest. From there, you’ll need to answer five questions correctly to complete the quest and track down the thief.

Institute Steward answers in Crimson Desert

The Institute Steward will ask you five questions, which we’ve listed below along with their correct answers, but, if you get one wrong, you’ll have to start over from the very beginning, so make sure to choose the right one!

Let’s start with the treasurer. What did he say?

• Correct answer: Heard there was a meeting with a noble out of town that day.

What of Grunil?

• Correct answer: They were at the lab with Tarho all day, and reckon the guard’s the one acting suspicious.

He says they noticed nothing?

• Correct answer: While working on their research with Grunil, they stopped by the library and got scolded by the librarian.

How about Almenso, the guard?

• Correct answer: It seems the library has record of everyone’s visits, except Raphael

And what did he tell you?

• Correct answer: They insist they couldn’t have stolen it — since they didn’t know about the forbidden books or the ancient language

After all this, the steward pulls out a definitive conclusion based on knowledge of his own, nothing that you provided. The quest objective changes and directs you to apprehend the culprit near the archive, and while it doesn’t name who did it, you’ll see once you get there that the thief is Javier.

Image: Pearl Abyss via Polygon

A scene starts once you approach, and then you automatically tackle him at the end. Choose to tie him up, as you would for a bounty, and bring him to the plaza in front of the archive entrance by the horse statue. Once the quest ends, you’ll get the Kinetic Dolphin Family statue, a decoration for your camp (or if you hate it, you can sell it for 39 pieces of silver).

Just starting out in Crimson Desert? We have guides to help you learn the basics and refresh your memory on how some of its systems work. The world of Pywel is huge, so you might have a hard time deciding where to go first, but you can make your journey a little easier with the help of our interactive map. Along the way, make sure to learn a few life skills like fishing, logging, cooking, and mining.

We also have walkthroughs for main story quests like “Abyss Without Balance” and “Familiar Curses,” and puzzles in the Abyss like the Root’s End.