Resident Evil 4 Remake Merchant Requests Guide: Blue Note Locations and Rewards

The Merchant in the RE4 remake does more than sell you shotgun shells and knife repairs. He also pins blue notes around the world, little wanted ads that ask you to shoot medallions, gut rats, or haul him a giant fish. There are 19 of these Merchant Requests in the main campaign, and between them they pay out 84 Spinels.

That number matters more than it sounds like it would. Spinels are the one currency pesetas can't touch, and the two Exclusive Upgrade Tickets in the trade menu run 30 and 40 apiece. Sweep the whole board and you can afford both with 14 to spare. Walk past a handful of notes and suddenly you're picking one weapon to make special instead of two. The catch is there's no chapter select, so a note you leave behind is usually gone for good.

How Merchant Requests Work

A request is a blue sheet of paper pinned near one of the Merchant's stalls or on a wall along the main path. Walk up, read it, and it logs into your files with four lines: the objective, the area it's tied to, the Spinel payout, and a progress counter. That counter's the friendly part. Halfway through a medallion hunt it tells you exactly how many you still owe.

You don't even need the note first, most of the time. Objectives count as you do them, so you can shoot a couple of medallions walking in, grab the paper after, and find the progress already ticking. A few jobs only open up past a story beat, but reading late costs you nothing except knowing what to look for.

Getting paid means going back to a stall. The objective finishing does not drop Spinels in your pocket; you hand the request in at the shop. On the island that walk gets genuinely long, so wrap things up before you trigger the next story beat. Four of the jobs are sell jobs (vipers, a bass, an egg, a gem). For those, selling the item at the shop is the hand-in.

The clock is the real enemy. No chapter select, no free roam after the credits, and almost every note is tied to one zone. Once the story moves you past that zone, the request fails on the spot. Treat every note as due before its chapter ends and you won't get burned. Egg Hunt is the famous exception, since its file says "Area: None Specified" and a second gold egg exists way later in the castle. Viper Hunter's note reads the same way, but vipers pretty much stop existing once you leave the lake region, so don't lean on that.

Two things make the whole system friendlier than it sounds. When a medallion request goes active, the medallions show up as blue icons on your area map. The map won't shoot them for you, but it tells you which corner of the farm still owes you one. And turning subtitles on gives you a free rat radar, because the caption "[rats squeaking]" fires before you can actually hear the little guys.

Nineteen requests, 84 Spinels, one achievement. Clear them all and Jack of All Trades pops. The board shakes out like this:

| Job type | Requests | Spinels | | --- | --- | --- | | Blue medallion hunts | 6 | 27 | | Strong-threat bounties | 3 | 24 | | Sell-an-item jobs | 4 | 14 | | Shoot or deface a target | 3 | 10 | | Rat exterminations | 3 | 9 |

Look at the shape of that. Medallions plus the three bounties are about 61% of the money, and they're the two job types you finish just by walking your normal route. Rat hunts are the fiddliest and pay the least. So what should you skip if a run goes sideways? Skip rats. Never skip anything that says "defeat the strong threat," because each bounty pays close to triple a rat hunt.

(Ada's Separate Ways campaign runs its own board of seven more requests if you want extra work later. Different campaign, different Spinel pile, so none of this math carries over.)

Village Blue Note Requests

Eight notes across Chapters 1 through 5, good for 31 Spinels.

| Request | Chapter | Where the note is | The job | Spinels | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Destroy the Blue Medallions 1 | 1 | The Farm | Shoot 5 medallions | 3 | | Pest Control | 2 | Boiler by the Merchant at the Abandoned Factory | Kill 3 rats | 3 | | Viper Hunter | 3 | Wall by the Merchant near the Town Hall | Sell 3 vipers | 4 | | Grave Robber | 3 | Shed behind the church | Break 2 tombstone emblems | 2 | | Destroy the Blue Medallions 2 | 3 | Pillar at the Quarry entrance | Shoot 5 medallions | 4 | | Egg Hunt | 4 | Mural Cave, by the boat | Sell a Gold Chicken Egg | 3 | | Catch Me a Big Fish | 4 | Behind the Insignia door, Lakeside Settlement | Sell a Lunker Bass | 4 | | A Savage Mutt | 5 | By the Town Hall door at the Merchant's stall | Kill the strong threat | 8 |

The two medallion runs

The Farm set is the first note in the whole game, posted as you arrive in Chapter 1. Five medallions hang around the property: on the outside of the typewriter house, inside both barns, on the big barn's upper window, and under the broken ledge by the round stone structure at the back. You can come back and finish these on a later village visit if the first pass gets busy, just not once the Chapter 5 finale ships you out for good.

The second set covers the Quarry and Fish Farm in Chapter 3, note on a pillar at the quarry entrance. One medallion sits on the quarry's rickety board tower, one's in the typewriter shack at the fish farm, one's wedged into a crack in the south wall, and two hide under boardwalks at water level. Those under-boardwalk ones are the easy ones to miss, so check the map icons before you leave. A handgun handles every medallion in the game. Don't waste rifle rounds on them.

Rat, snake, and graveyard errands

Pest Control asks for three rats inside the Abandoned Factory, which is exactly as glamorous as it sounds. The note's on a boiler by the Merchant. The rats are small and fast in a dark building, so knife them; it's quiet and it's free.

Viper Hunter wants three vipers sold. Vipers are loot you pull off snakes, and the Fish Farm alone holds enough of them, in the water and on land. Here's the trap: a viper is a decent heal if you eat it. Every one you snack on is a third of the request, so hold all three for the shop.

Grave Robber is the cheapest job on the board at 2 Spinels. The note's in a small shed behind the church, and the graveyard right there has emblems engraved on the tombstones. Only the two twin stones in the center count. Knife them and pocket the easiest two Spinels in Spain.

The lake jobs

Egg Hunt and Catch Me a Big Fish are both Chapter 4 boat errands, and both are sell jobs, which is where people fumble them.

The Egg Hunt note is inside the Mural Cave where the boat's moored. Take the boat to the east side of the lake, following the line of the wrecked boat out in the middle, and you'll find a little chicken isle with a pier. Dock, walk in among the chickens, and the Gold Chicken Egg is sitting on the mud. Miss it somehow and there's a second one much later at the castle's Throne Room in Chapter 12, in a square lock box if you grabbed the Cubic Device back in Chapter 9.

The Catch Me a Big Fish note is tucked behind the Insignia-keyed door in the Lakeside Settlement, at a dead end in the cavern past it. The fish itself is out on the lake: the gigantic one circling around the boathouse. You can't miss it, it's huge next to everything else in the water. Pull the boat close and harpoon it until it stops moving, then scoop it up. Clear some inventory space first, because it's a chunky item. Sell it at the Merchant southwest of the lake. It's a big heal if you eat it instead, and there's exactly one in the game, so, don't.

A Savage Mutt

This one unlocks in Chapter 5 once you're out of the church with Ashley. The note's by the Town Hall door at the Merchant's stall, and the job is a single 8-Spinel bounty, tied for the biggest payout in the campaign. Swing south toward the Village Chief's Manor on your route back and the dog appears around the gate: a huge parasite wolf, faster and way tankier than the regular mutts. Shotgun up close, grenades when it circles. It hits like a truck, so keep Ashley clear and don't get greedy with the knife.

Castle Blue Note Requests

Seven notes across Chapters 7 through 12, worth 32 Spinels.

| Request | Chapter | Where the note is | The job | Spinels | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Destroy the Blue Medallions 3 | 7 | East wall by the Castle Gate double doors | Shoot 6 medallions | 5 | | Destroy the Blue Medallions 4 | 9 | Table by the fireplace off the Grand Hall | Shoot 6 medallions | 5 | | More Pest Control | 9 | Wall by the Dining Hall entrance | Kill 3 rats | 3 | | Merciless Knight | 10 | Dresser in the room between Grand Hall and Library | Kill the golden knight | 8 | | Insect Hive | 11 | Wooden pallet east of the Hive | Destroy 4 hive entrances | 4 | | Jewel Thief | 12 | By the Ballroom Merchant's shop | Sell the Scratched Emerald | 3 | | The Disgrace of the Salazar Family | 12 | Same wall, right beside Jewel Thief | Throw an egg at Ramón's portrait | 4 |

Medallion hunts, castle edition

The Castle Gate set in Chapter 7 spreads six medallions around the cannon area. The sneaky ones sit outside the map proper, like the one hanging off a tree southwest of the gate that you line up from the balcony near the ladder. The Grand Hall set in Chapter 9 covers the hall itself plus the side rooms: one on the chandelier, one in the Gallery, one behind the Armory curtains, one in a Dining Hall window. The area sprawls, so lean on those map icons. Both hunts stay open until the story sends you up the clocktower, then they're dead.

More Pest Control

Three rats in the Grand Hall wing. You'll bump into two early, one in the corridor toward the Armory and one just inside the Dining Hall. The third lives in the Library, which you can't enter until the story unlocks it, so don't panic when the counter stalls at 2/3 halfway through Chapter 9. Same trick as always: subtitles on, "[rats squeaking]" is your radar.

Merciless Knight

Eight Spinels for one fight. The note's on a dresser in the room between the Grand Hall and the Library, and the target is a golden Armadura waiting in the Mausoleum with two regular knights as an honor guard. Kill the escorts first, then play bait-and-parry with the gold one. Every parry staggers it for a beat, and that's your window to get behind it and pop the parasite out. It's harder to expose than a normal knight's, so be patient. Small bonus: some of the regular knights in the Mausoleum and Library drop Spinels when they die, so the room literally pays out on the side.

Insect Hive

Chapter 11, after the mine cart ride with Luis. Four hive entrances need destroying, and they look like pulsing yellow-glowing orbs stuck on the big central hive. You walk past every single one of them on the normal route through the area, so this is mostly a "remember to look up" job. Handgun rounds do it. If you hit the elevator at 3/4, you can double back before riding out.

Jewel Thief and the egg job

Jewel Thief pays 3 Spinels for about a minute of work. The Scratched Emerald sits in a crow's nest above the bridge in the Courtyard, outside the maze. From the Merchant's shop, line yourself up with the road that runs to the fountain on the west side, aim north above the bridge, and shoot the nest down. The emerald falls to the ground, you pick it up, walk back to the shop, and sell it. Done.

The Disgrace of the Salazar Family hangs on the same wall as Jewel Thief, and it's the weirdest job on the board. Ramón's portrait hangs on the left wall of the Throne Room, way at the castle's east end, once you're back topside in Chapter 12. The request wants it defaced, and the game means that literally: grab one of the eggs from the chickens roaming that room and throw it at the painting. Any egg works. Four Spinels, and cheaper than ammo.

Island Blue Note Requests

Four notes across Chapters 14 and 15, worth 21 Spinels. This is where Merchant stalls thin out, so plan the hand-in walks before pushing story beats.

| Request | Chapter | Where the note is | The job | Spinels | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Destroy the Blue Medallions 5 | 14 | At the Merchant shop in Facility Storage 1 | Shoot 5 medallions | 5 | | Even More Pest Control | 14 | Crate by the Merchant east of Waste Disposal | Kill 4 rats | 3 | | The Wandering Dead | 14 | Crates north of the Cargo Depot | Kill the strong threat | 8 | | Destroy the Blue Medallions 6 | 15 | Near the Cliffside Ruins exit | Shoot 5 medallions | 5 |

Cargo Depot medallions

You can clear most of this set before even entering the depot proper. The five medallions hang around the fuel tanks and shipping containers: one off the map edge to the left of the lone eastern fuel tank, one underneath a pathway right after the first stairs, one by a red container in the south corner, one near the caged bags in the northwest, and one on a distant fuel tank visible from the top of the main staircase. Knock it out early, because the story locks this area once you push toward the summit.

Even More Pest Control

Four rats in the Waste Disposal area while you're down there with Ashley, roughly one per section of the map. The place goes loud fast once the power puzzle flips, so hit them one at a time as you move through. You've got the heat-sensing scope by this point, which sounds silly for rats but genuinely helps pick them off the floor in the dark.

The Wandering Dead

Eight Spinels, and it earns them. The note sits on crates north of the Cargo Depot in Chapter 14, and the target is back in the Incubation Lab, the room with regenerators floating in tubes. The one you want is the spiked-up variant, think Iron Maiden, standing apart from the tanks. Use the heat-sensing scope, keep your distance, and burn the parasites in its body; some shots take out two at once. Miss a weak point and it answers with a spike flurry, and no, you can't dodge all of it. Leave the grenades in your case too. Explosives crack the incubation tubes and hand you extra regenerators you did not order.

Cliffside Ruins medallions

The last request in the game. Five medallions around the Chapter 15 ruins, including one way up on the Specimen Storage tower that basically asks for the rifle, one at the underground passage entrance, and one tucked behind a doorframe you sight from the top of the ladder. Sweep it before heading for the summit, because nothing after the summit gets easier or pays better.

Spending Spinels on Rewards

The trade menu is separate from the buy menu, and its stock grows as chapters pass. Nothing in it costs pesetas, Spinels only, and there aren't enough Spinels in one run for everything, so order matters.

| Item | Spinels | Shows up | | --- | --- | --- | | Treasure Map: Village | 1 | Chapter 2 | | Yellow Herb | 3 | Chapter 2 | | Punisher (handgun) | 5 | Chapter 2 | | Laser Sight | 10 | Chapter 2 | | Elegant Mask | 2 | Chapter 4 | | High-power Scope | 7 | Chapter 4 | | TMP Stock | 8 | Chapter 4 | | Attaché Case: Black | 8 | Chapter 4 | | Red9 Stock | 9 | Chapter 6 | | Gunpowder x10 | 2, then 3 | Chapter 6, again in 10 | | Treasure Map: Castle | 3 | Chapter 7 | | Attaché Case: Leather | 12 | Chapter 7 | | Exclusive Upgrade Ticket | 30 | Chapter 7 | | Treasure Map: Island | 5 | Chapter 13 | | Exclusive Upgrade Ticket (second) | 40 | Chapter 13 |

Later stock also adds the Matilda handgun (10) and its stock (12), Gold Tokens (3) for the shooting gallery machine, and a few sellable trinkets like the Chalice of Atonement.

Buy the tickets first

An Exclusive Upgrade Ticket unlocks a weapon's exclusive perk on the spot. Normally that perk sits at the end of a full upgrade chain, every prior tier maxed plus a fat peseta bill on top, and a complete weapon build runs into the hundreds of thousands. The ticket skips all of it. At 30 and then 40, the two tickets are the entire reason the request board is worth your time, and the full 84 covers both.

Then the cheap force-multipliers

After the tickets, spend on things that change how a gun handles. The Red9 Stock (9) tames that handgun's wander, the TMP Stock (8) stops the SMG from waving all over the place, the High-power Scope (7) turns your rifle into a real sniper tool, and the Laser Sight (10) is a straight aim upgrade for handguns. The Yellow Herb (3) is a permanent max health bump that sticks with you, so grab it whenever. The two Attaché Cases (8 and 12) boost Resource (L) and red herb drop rates respectively; nice to have, not nice enough to jump the line for.

Treasure maps are cheap and honest: the village one costs a single Spinel and marks every treasure from the farm to the lake, which turns into thousands of pesetas you'd otherwise stroll past. Just know they don't carry into New Game Plus, while your Spinels do.

What to skip

The Punisher and Matilda are fine handguns in a game full of fine handguns, and five to ten Spinels is real money on this budget. The sellable trinkets (Elegant Mask, Yellow Diamond, Red Beryl) are just pesetas wearing a disguise. Gunpowder drops constantly from enemies. Gold Tokens are a taste call; the charms from the shooting gallery have actual buffs, so grab one if the machine appeals to you, just know what you're trading away.

A worked budget

Say you clear the whole board: 84 in, 70 out for both tickets, 14 spare. That spare covers the Red9 Stock (9), the village treasure map (1), and the Yellow Herb (3), with one lonely Spinel left over. If you'd rather have the Laser Sight, drop the stock and the herb and you're at 11 of 14. What you can't do is afford a ticket and the whole attachment row, so decide early whether you're a ticket person or an attachment person. (Be a ticket person. Ammo is cheaper than regret.)

One last accounting note: whatever Spinels you're still holding when the credits roll carry into New Game Plus, and the trade stock resets with them. So nothing earned is ever wasted, but the 84 you can only earn once per run is still the 84 that buys the good stuff.