Contract: Phantom of the Trade Route

Contract: Phantom of the Trade Route is a contract quest in .
 This quest is unique among contract quests as it does not appear on any Notice board. However, the secondary quest The Truth is in the Stars, which also starts in Benek, does, thus still making it possible to find it through the Notice boards.
== Walkthrough ==
It can be picked up by either talking to a refugee in Benek, finding the ransacked caravan, or finding the cave where the refugees are hiding.
It's best to start with the refugee as you'll be able to haggle some if you wish. In short, some refugees, including his brother, were hired by a merchant group and were due back already. Agree to help, then head north along the road to find the ransacked caravan.
There's a number of clues here to examine including the blood splatter, the barrel, nearby tracks, and the claw marks in the rock. Once everything is examined Geralt will pick up on the wine scent that'll take you a ways northeast until you reach a large cave entrance with a body right there. Examine it, then head inside and, just below the ledge to the left, you'll find the other 2 missing men. If you talked to the other refugee first, you can ask about the brother, who's the one who died at the entrance. No matter how you found them, you can ask what happened exactly to learn the merchants use them as bait to keep their actual people and goods safe.
If you found them first before talking to the one in Benek, you can then tell them the way is clear but regardless they're not so sure and refuse to leave until the monster is taken care of. If you talked to the Benek refugee, Geralt will automatically decide to go kill it. Once the conversation is done you'll earn 30 from talking to them, and 25 for learning it's a royal wyvern.
With that, head south, going up the ramp. Mind the gap at the first ledge, then continue to climb up. If you have the , you'll see a path that goes down around here, but that's not the path you need for this quest. Once you reach the top you'll find 2 wyverns and 2 monster nests. Kill them both, then destroy the nests (20 each) and prepare for a short cutscene as the royal wyvern makes its appearance.
Keep in mind while you have a lot of space up here to move, there is a ledge and you can fall to your death. Once it's also dead, loot it for the wyvern trophy and Anathema sword, and the 2 refugees you found in the cave will come out to see for themselves before leaving. Note that if you don't loot it quick enough the refugees will talk to you first, but you can just loot it afterwards.
Head back to Benek to let the refugee know. If you didn't talk to him beforehand, he'll be reluctant at first to reward you as the friends haven't arrived back, but nevertheless gives you it. If you did talk to him beforehand though, the men arrived and he'll give you your reward readily. Regardless, you'll earn 250 and 192 , completing the quest.
== Journal entry ==
:If Geralt talks to the refugee first:
::Once upon a time, Geralt took a contract from a group of refugees. I don't know if he felt sorry for the poor souls or if his witcher blood was simply itching for some action - one way or the other, he promised to find their missing companions, who had set off with a caravan headed north. All signs seemed to indicate a beast had attacked them en route.
:If Geralt finds the refugees in the cave first:
::Geralt found the refugees in a cave where they had sought shelter from a monster. Such is the fate of refugees all too often - they are forever jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire. They told the witcher about the beast that had attacked them during their travels and asked him for help.
:It didn't take much for an old hand like Geralt to find out that the monster which had attacked the refugees was a wyvern. And not just any wyvern - a royal wyvern, though I doubt knowing they had come in close contact with royalty was much comfort to them.
== Objectives ==
* Talk to the refugee in Benek first:
** Find the missing caravan.
** Examine the cart using your Witcher Senses.
** Follow the scent using your Witcher Senses.
* Explore the cave using your Witcher Senses. (30 + 25)
* Find the wyvern's nest.
* Destroy the wyvern's nest. 0/2 (2x20)
* Wait for the royal wyvern to take the bait.
* Kill the royal wyvern.
* Take a trophy from the royal wyvern.
* If you didn't talk to the refugee in Benek first:
** Visit the poster of the notice about your payment.
* Collect your reward. (250)
== Notes ==
* In the caves you can also find the Enhanced Feline boots diagram.
== Videos ==
File:The Witcher 3 Royal Wyvern Boss Fight (Hard Mode)
Category:The Witcher 3 contracts
pl:Zlecenie: Zmora kupieckiego traktu
ru:Заказ: Призрак тракта
tr:Kontrat: Ticaret Yolu Tayfı