I woke up to the sound of a bird outside the singular window that lined the walls of my room.

Damn. What do these birds have against me? Honestly. I've done nothing to deserve this sleep deprivation. Maybe I'll just extinguish all birds when I become powerful enough.

The bird stopped its chalkboard-like crowing as if it could hear my thoughts.

Ah. Weird. Well, guess I'm the bird whisperer now. I gotta use that trick on the bird back ho-

The bird started crowing again but even louder.

I was speechless.

Ah, flip it. I'm gonna just get up now. Guess I'll get Dob and Lob up too. I got out of bed and got dressed before opening the door and knocking on Dob and Lob's door.

"Knock knock! Rise and shine!", I said, leaning down to the floor so I could talk through the tiny gap between the door and the floor.

I waited for a minute as I heard the scrambling of Dob and Lob as they rushed about getting ready. Then they opened the door and looked at me with a bit of annoyance in their eyes.

Well if I can't sleep because of some stupid bird they're not gonna sleep either. Darn, that's kind of selfish but it's the bird's fault. Stupid bird.

Wanting to get the day started I ignored my companions' annoyed look and walked out towards where I'd met Pepper yesterday while Dob and Lob followed behind me, looking eager to see their new friend again.

I got out to where the counter was and saw an exhausted-looking Pepper.

"Hey Pepper! Good morning!"

"Hey misterrrr uh. Oh yeah, Jameson. Good morning mister Jameson!", Pepper said with a smile.

Dob and Lob looked disappointed.

"Oh yeah and you guys. Good morning to you two guys too!", Pepper added.

Dob and Lob brightened up and gave her a thumbs up. Pepper responded with another thumbs up.

Darn, I feel like they're going to have secret conversations in this 'thumbs up language' now. Welp nothing I can do about it.

Dob, Lob, and Pepper continued making thumbs-up gestures at each other until I butted in.

"Hey, so Pepper can we get breakfast here?"

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Yeah of course mister Jameson. It's 1 Copper for breakfast."

I fished out 3 Copper coins from my pocket and handed them over to Pepper who quickly snatched them away with a beaming smile.

"Okay your food will be right out mister Jameson and you two", Pepper said, smiling at me and giving DOb and Lob another thumbs up.

The food came out very quickly. I was a bit surprised but delighted to see that we each got a sizeable bowl of granola.

Woo granola! Awesome!

I quickly shoveled it in my mouth and after Dob and Lob took their first bite they also started shoveling it into their mouths. We looked rather unsightly due to our eating pace but my tastebuds didn't care. It was so delicious.

After finishing breakfast I headed out with Dob and Lob to complete our mission.

Damn, I feel horrible about this. I don't think I can wait until after the ABW is destroyed to pay back the baby. I got it. I'll steal the candy from the baby but I'll give it a different larger piece of candy. Yes, that'll work perfectly.

So as I followed the signs to the central plaza of the town I stopped by a store that was selling sweets. I walked in and looked around for the counter before walking over to it.

I looked at the old woman manning the store.

"Hello Ma'am. Do you have any big sweets?"

"Yes, young man. Wait here a second."

The old lady walked into the back of the store, coming back moments later with a giant lollipop. Dob and Lob stared at it, their eyes following it as the lady carried it back to the counter.

"This is our biggest one. It'll be 5 Coppers."

Wow, that's an expensive sweet. It is gigantic though and it's probably hand made so I guess it's worth the price.

I took out 5 Coppers and handed them to the lady before thanking her and leaving the store with the giant sugary treat. Coming to a stop in the plaza I looked for a baby eating some candy. I didn't have to wait long as a lady in a white dress came along holding the hand of a child who was holding on to a smaller way less impressive lollipop maybe saving it for later.

I wonder if that counts as a baby. I mean they're still very young so I think it can count. Maybe I can even do this without resorting to snatching it... Hmm. Maybe? Yeah, this should work.

Touting the giant lollipop in front of me I walked toward the pair trying to not make myself stick out. As I got close as I'd expected the child looked with greedy eyes at my giant lollipop before looking down at his own lollipop which now seemed minuscule.

I pretended to notice the child's gaze and walked over.

The lady walking with the child looked at me as I came closer and I gestured for her to step away from the toddler for a moment. She gave me a suspicious gaze but she decided to hear me out so she stayed there with the toddler now a few feet away.

"Hey, I noticed your kid there eying my giant lollipop. I'd be willing to give it to him if you don't mind I don't feel in the mood for this much sugar. I just didn't want to cause a disruption by bypassing your authority in this situation."

The woman looked at me with a slight smile.

"Ah well, that's nice of you."

The lady looked back at the child.

"Hey, Timmy this nice man is going to give you a bigger lollipop are you fine with that?"

Timmy nodded vigorously in my direction.

"Thanks, mister. Here you can take this one. I haven't opened it or anything and I need to use both hands for that one"

I smiled at Timmy's offer which was expected. After all, you can't carry something in your hands if they're both full.

Mission completed! I didn't cause anybody any actual harm but technically I did steal candy from a baby. Well, it's a very 'technically' completion but I'm counting it as a win in my books.

So feeling better about myself and with the mission technically completed I decided we should head back to the ABW base. I wanted to say bye to Pepper first though and I had a feeling Dob and Lob did too.