Mightier than the Sword is a side quest in Kingdom Come: Deliverance. When Henry asks someone whether they can teach him to read, they will send him to the scribe of Uzhitz.
You will need 50 
to pay the scribe.
You must be literate to begin the quest Last Will and Testament and to progress the quest Honeyed Words of The Amorous Adventures of Bold Sir Hans Capon DLC. Literacy also helps to achieve the best result in the quest Pestilence.
As Last Will and Testament must be finished before starting the From the Ashes DLC, completing the quest prevents the acquisition of the Trial-and-error achievement. The Hans Capon DLC can be played much later, however, so Henry can learn to read after finishing Pribyslavitz and get the achievement before completing Honeyed Words.
Synopsis[]
They say the pen is mightier than the sword. Maybe it's time I learned to read.
Objectives[]
- Visit the scribe in Uzhitz.
- Read the book.
- Go back to the scribe.
- Read the Latin text.
- Go back to the scribe.
- Read the Latin text.
- Go back to the scribe.
- Read the book.
Walkthrough[]
Attempting to read while illiterate
Like most lowborn (and some highborn) people of the era, Henry cannot read. Nevertheless, it can prove a useful skill to have.
In order to read the various books he comes across, Henry must first ask one of the locals in the region who can teach him to read. They will point him to the scribe of Uzhitz. The scribe will agree to teach him to read in return for 50 , but warns him that the process takes several days.
First, the scribe will direct Henry to read The Golden Egg (due to Henry's illiteracy, as with all other books, the words appear scrambled), and challenges Henry to deduce the moral of the story, which is that "being greedy doesn't pay."
Reading at level 20
Next, the scribe will ask Henry to read the Latin text. Though the words are legible, being able to pronounce them doesn't mean one understands the text itself. The text is "Nullus est liber tam malus, ut non aliqua parte prosit. Libri muti magistri sunt. Optimus orator est, qui paucis verbis plurima dicit." Roughly translated, this means: "There is no book so bad that it is not profitable in part. Books are silent teachers. The best speaker is one who says the most with the fewest words."
Henry will gain the first Reading skill point during the quest. Reading will still be difficult at first, with letters appearing scrambled, but the higher Henry's skill level, the less cryptic the text will appear. Importantly, once this skill is acquired, Henry can begin reading skill books to raise his other skills, as well as lore books to help improve his Reading skill.
Notes[]
- This quest is one of the few quests that can be done before meeting Sir Radzig in Awakening. Although the jog to Ushitz takes about 5 hours, it may pay off to do this quest right after being healed, as it enables the option to raise various stats and skills by reading.
- While the scribe mentions that several days will pass while Henry is learning to read, in-game time will not advance. Timed quests, such as At Your Service, My Lady, should therefore not be affected.