Umair
How do you complete the Taking French Leave quest in Kingdom Come Deliverance 2? After you sort out the trouble with Royal Mint Master Vavak, Sir Kunzlin Ruthard will help you infiltrate Maleshov so you can rescue your best bud Hans, starting the Taking French Leave main story quest. His daughter, Rosa, will tip you off to a secret passage into the fortified keep, and with the help of a local stable groom, the scene is set for a daring rescue.
If you have questions about how many missions are left in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, take a look at all main and side missions to get a good idea of how content is in the RPG game. Taking French Leave is over two thirds of the way through to the end, however, so read on to see how to find the secret passage and rescue Sir Hans.
How to find the Maleshov secret passage
Rosa will tell you to find a shrine near the Maleshov stables, just south of Old Lhota and northwest of Maleshov. This is a small white marker near the larger road running just south of the stables. Groom Hashtal will give you the required materials to find the secret passage.
Follow these directions to find the secret passage:
- Make sure it’s daytime, or have a Nighthawk potion handy.
- From the shrine, head beyond the large rocks to find the chapel ruins.
- Through the window, you’ll see the Old Ruins. At the northeast corner of the Old Ruins, there’s a stone gross embedded in the ground between a shattered wall.
- Head in the direction the stone cross points until you find another near a small stream, follow the second stone cross in the direction it points back toward Maleshov, up the slope.
- You’ll find the stone cross where the passage leans up against a tree, make sure Mutt or your horse aren’t nearby as you won’t be able to dig.
- Dig up the passage and continue to Maleshov.
How to rescue Hans Capon from Maleshov
While there isn’t any danger in the Maleshov secret passage itself, you need to head through until you reach the other end to trigger a cutscene. From here, you’ll have to infiltrate the central tower to rescue Hans Capon.
Here what you need to do to rescue Hans Capon from Maleshov:
- Make sure you have your stealthiest clothing equipped and eavesdrop on the nearby guards to learn who has the key you need.
- From the battlement where you regain control, head down the right corridor into a turret, sneak by the soldier there and head a floor down.
- Just outside the turret is the wash basin and the kitchen. Enter and knock out Cook Drahomira, making sure to loot the Maleshov Fortress Key, Tower Key, and Chambers Key from her.
- Walk along the back of the central tower, sneak by the soldier patrolling there.
- Stairs lead towards the eastern side of the central tower, wait at the first set of stairs inside for the two guards to come down and sit by the fire in the room nearby.
- Ascend two stories and open the door on the left. Provide Hans Capon and Brabrant with some weapons. You can find some on the floor below in the room with Lady Ofka sitting by the fire.
Where to find Rosa’s book
Rosa may have asked you to find a book from her room in Maleshov; however, there are several books that look like the description of a red-and-gold tome that she sent you after.
It’s actually called “A book of humorous anecdotes,” and you can find it in the same room with Lady Ofka sitting by the fire, though you have to knock her out to get it. Make sure to flip through the entire book before giving it to her to advance the quest.
How to escape Maleshov
From here, you can convince Hans Capon and Brabrant to fight with you to the horses at the front entrance to the fortress; however, they insist you scout ahead and signal them with a torch to come down.
It’s incredibly difficult to sneak your way to the stables without being spotted, and if you kill any of the soldiers on the way to Hans, they will sound the alarm immediately after you rescue him. Even then, you will have to kill several guards to clear a path for Hans and Brabrant, which is almost nearly impossible at launch.
We recommend taking out as many guards in a stealthy manner before luring them into a narrow corridor to fight the rest. It might be a good idea to switch into armor before you attempt this. Once they’re defeated, head to the stables and light a torch to signal Hans and Brabrant to come down. Open the front gate to complete the quest.
With all this information under your knight’s belt, you shouldn’t have any issue clearing Taking French Leave. Since you’re nearing the end of the game, you might want to peruse our best medieval games on PC to get your next chivalrous fix; otherwise, the best RPGs on PC might be more up your alley if you’re missing dragons and magic spells.
