Merchants and adventurers have a symbiotic relationship in many roleplaying games - monsters and bandits have a habit of making travel and hence trade more difficult, and merchants often have the incentive and coin to pay adventurers to clear out economic threats. In that regard, Isaac, the proprietor of Issac’s Wares in 
Bakbattahl is both conventional and odd as far as his role as a quest-giver is concerned; he’s a merchant, albeit one with a rather unique problem - his eyesight is fading and you’ll discover this by purchasing any item from him.
To help him out you’ll first need to give him a 
Ripened Quince, then obtain the tome 
On the Transference of Souls 2 from 
Ibrahim’s Scrap Store in the 
Checkpoint Rest Town. To prevent a tragedy and obtain a better reward, pay to have a forgery made (
On the Transit of Souls 2) and give the fake to Isaac instead. This page will provide a full walkthrough for the side quest 
Short-Sighted Ambition in 
Dragon’s Dogma 2, including how to achieve both the good and bad ending and the rewards you’ll gain for each.
(1 of 2) Purchase any item from Isaac in Bakbattahl and he’ll ask you to help him cure his waning vision.
Purchase any item from Isaac in Bakbattahl and he’ll ask you to help him cure his waning vision. (left), Get a Quince from the wilderness of Battahl and let it ripen in your inventory, then give it to Isaac. (right)
Starting the Short-Sighted Ambition Quest¶
You’ll find Issac’s Wares in the center of Bakbattahl, near the other shops. As the item shop you might not expect much out of this store, and this makes it somewhat easy to miss this side quest. Be sure to purchase any item from Issac (we just grabbed some 
Lantern Oil) and his poor eyesight causes his wife to intervene. Following this embarrassing mistake he’ll ask you to help him recover his eyesight by providing him a Ripened 
Quince.
You can find Quince throughout Battahl, just look for bushes bearing yellow fruit. Once you have one of these fruits, either stand around and wait for it to ripen (this could take a while), rest at an inn or a private residence, or burn time by dozing off while sitting on benches. Over time it should ripen, and you’ll be able to present this odd cure to Isaac, who seems pleased enough with its efficacy. While the Quince reversed the damage done to Isaac’s eyesight (although not enough for him to remove the eyepatch), he’s learned no lessons when it comes to the source of his affliction. A tome called “
On the Transference of Souls 1” crippled him, but his pursuit of securing better fortunes for his family compels him to seek out the sequel, “
On the Transference of Souls 2”.
As you leave Isaac to his madness, his wife and daughter will step in and implore you not to give him the tome he desires. Unfortunately, there’s no way to just opt out, so her pleas must fall on deaf ears. Nobody wants a failed quest in their quest log, right?
(1 of 3) Buy “Of the Transference of Souls 2” from Ibrahim,
On the Transference of Souls 2 Location¶
Isaac all but tells you where to look for “On the Transference of Souls 2”, but in case he was too subtle, you’ll need to head to the Checkpoint Rest Town. Hidden away in the western corner of town you’ll find Ibrahim’s Scrap Store, which sells a variety of junk and creates forgeries of items. If you completed the quest Hunt for the Jadeite Orb you should be familiar with this merchant and, perhaps, his forgeries. The forgeries are of dubious utility much of the time, but in some cases that can actually be to our benefit, as you’ll soon see.
Purchase “On the Transference of Souls 2” from Ibrahim’s Scrap Store for 2,000G, then pay 2,400G to have a forgery of the tome created, as this will give you more options for resolving this quest. If you’re a penny-pincher, never fear - you’ll earn much more gold by using the forgery than you would by giving Isaac the genuine article. Rest a day or two (sitting on a bench repeatedly works fine) and talk to Ibrahim again to claim both the original book and the forgery (titled “
On the Transit of Souls 2”), then return to Bakbattahl. You’ll now need to decide whether you want to give Isaac the genuine tome, or the forgery, and both paths will be covered below:
(1 of 3) Give Isaac the real tome,
Give Isaac the Real Tome¶
Talk to Isaac and when prompted to give him an item, be sure to select “Of the Transference of Souls 2” - the genuine article. Follow him to his abode where he’ll use the tome to trigger whatever fell magic is stored within, which has… a deleterious effect on Isaac’s wife and daughter. Isaac, for his part, is quite slow on the uptake, and it’s anybody’s guess whether this outcome was due to a botch on Isaac’s end, malicious intent by whomever wrote the tomes, or merely a monkey’s paw playing on what constitutes “a better life” for Isaac’s family. Either way, you’ll get 3,000 XP for completing the quest and you can pull a 
Ring of Disfavor out of the sand pile that used to be Isaac’s wife.
(1 of 2) Alternatively, give Isaac the forgery,
Alternatively, give Isaac the forgery, (left), and when the tome yields no results, he’ll give up his ambitions. (right)
Give Isaac the Forgery¶
To get this ending you merely have to give Isaac the forged tome - “On the Transit of Souls 2” when prompted. Things will play out much the same, just follow Isaac to his house and he’ll use the tome, but this time no calamity is forthcoming. This causes Isaac to abandon his dangerous ambition, unwittingly saving his family in the process. For your support you’ll get 3,000 XP and 16,000G. If you talk to Isaac later (when he’s back managing his shop) he’ll sell you “On the Transference of Souls 1” for 2,000G, allowing you to complete the set. You know, since you kept the original copy of the second volume. If you combine the two tomes you’ll create “On the Transference of Souls”, which will allow you to cast 
Celestial Paean… a spell that the 
Mage vocation can learn if you complete the quest Spellbound. An interesting item, but not one with much practical value.
If you’ve got a taste for more side quests in Bakbattahl, check out the following pages:
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