Where Children Toil, Toys Waste Away is a main quest in the Blood and Wine expansion.
Important: before you do this, if you want to do the small secondary quest Amidst the Mill's Grist, go visit Count de la Croix's Mill before completing this quest, as afterwards it will not be available.
Walkthrough
Head to Beauclair Port to find the bootblack, though note he's only there between 8am and 8pm. When you show up during that time, he's busy with some irate men. Approach and eventually you have 3 choices: say you're his father, a witcher, or not their concern. No matter how you answer though, the men will attack you and you must fistfight them (600
if you win, 400 if you lose). Whether you knocked them out or lost the fight, a ducal guard will then approach to see what's going on. Again, no matter how you respond, he'll arrest the men and you can then talk to the bootblack.
However, the boy has clearly learned the streets: he'll tell you what he knows, but only for a sum of 500 
to finance his business. You have a small room to negotiate down, but you can also use Axii instead (requires Delusion level 2 for a minimum of 35).
Important: Paying the full 500 (no negotiating or Axii) will count as "Proof of Generosity" for There Can Be Only One.
When it feels like it's not going anywhere, Regis pops up feeling much better, and convinces the boy to tell them where Dettlaff has been staying. Now follow Regis along the port until you reach The Rocking Horse. Interact with the door, which is of course locked, but Regis will take care of the issue. (600) You can then examine the toys, though none of them hold any significance. What you really want to see is upstairs on the second floor. Just as you reach the second floor, you'll see a woman's face on the wall opposite you that can be examined as well as the music box and tools on the work table. However, the pieces you need here are two documents in the room: the suspicious letter near the stairs in a small jug and the letters in a corner to the right of the work table. After several short conversations on finding the clues (answering however you wish) the quest will complete. (1,000)
Journal entry
- It proved quite the ordeal for Regis, a sacrifice one might say. But they obtained the last ingredient required for Resonance, and the vampire could prepare the concoction. Geralt drank a dose, and visions ensued. He saw Dettlaff meet and speak to a young bootblack. Then the witcher and the vampire set off in search of the boy.
- The bootblack proved both pugnacious and resolute. Geralt and Regis were desperate to learn anything they could about Dettlaff. The boy sensed this and decided to take advantage. It was clear he would one day go far, such was the knack he demonstrated for business. As regarded the search for Dettlaff, Geralt and Regis learned he had brought his boots to be cleaned on a number of occasions. Each time, he had asked the boy to return them to an old, abandoned shop, where he was to leave them at the door. The witcher and the vampire set off to explore the site.
- Geralt and Regis then searched Dettlaff's hideout. Ironically, the "Beast" had made his lair in a storeroom above an abandoned toy shop. After thoroughly searching the site, the witcher and the vampire deduced that Dettlaff was being black-mailed. He had committed the murders in Toussaint at the behest of mysterious individuals who were holding his beloved hostage. Our intrepid duo resolved to split up. Regis would remain at the toy shop and hope Dettlaff would return. He preferred to speak with Dettlaff alone, without the witcher there to disrupt their tête-à-tête...
Objectives
- Find the bootblack who appeared in the vision.
- Find the bootblack during his working hours.
- Defend the bootblack from his attackers.
- Follow Regis through the city.
- Enter the toy shop. (600
) - Search the toy shop using your Witcher Senses.
- Use your Witcher Senses to look for clues in the toy shop. (1,000)
Notes
- Right after completing the quest, if Geralt returns to The Rocking Horse to meet Regis, then Regis will be irritated for a moment as he already told Geralt he can't be there or else Detlaff will never appear. However, this will have no affect on the quest.
- After the quest completes, Geralt can go back to the bootblack and speak to him for some minor extra conversation. This can be done even at nighttime immediately as the quest completes, despite the bootblack having working hours.
- An eviction notice and a letter to the shopkeeper can be found on the first floor of the toystore, but they only relate to the shop's history and aren't important for the quest.
- A bootblack's flyer also exists in the game files, but doesn't seem to appear during gameplay.