Mikeal's return was sighted by the villagers from afar. They questioned how quick he was to return but were soon to be worried seeing as how he was coming in the same manner he left them.
With his maid by his right, and?...
"Are those vines behind him? Two separate vines shaped like cocoons?!". One of the villagers amongst the old questioned, unable to make sense of it.
"It!- it would appear so!". Responded another old villager.
The villagers murmured amongst themselves as they prepared to welcome Mikeal and ask him what they had in mind.
"A-A mage!". Says the old man to the approaching Mikeal.
Mikeal got to his front and stopped.
"To be able to control the vines like that... You are no doubt a mage. Am I right". The old man beckoned.
'It seems the world of mages is stranger majorly to the people in the capital'. Mikeal thought.
So far since his arrival, there are two who have assumed his lineage. The other villagers also do not look terrified to see him effortlessly controlling the vines.
The surprise compared to the capital people's reaction is lacking by several miles.
"If you are a mage, then surely you more than have the capability to save our captured members. Where are they". He asked, not giving Mikeal the time to answer his first question.
"Dead! All of them". Mikeal responded.
"The bandits! They killed them! All of them!! How could they?!!". The old man lamented accompanied by the pained villagers behind him.
"No. I killed them, all of them". Says Mikeal, clearing up the misunderstanding.
"Your Highness". Anna called, thinking of why he would be so direct.
"Yo-You killed them! You?!! Why would you do that".
It was confusing for them. Just earlier Mikeal had promised them the hostages safe return under the belief of his authority as their new lord.
And now?... Now he is saying he killed those same hostages he was supposed to rescue. Why would he do that?!
"Your captured have been defiled at the hands of their captives. Never will I allow such abominations to grace the land I rule over". Mikeal acclaimed, aloud.
He rendered the villagers stunned, unable to utter a word against him. Mikeal brought the two cocoons to their front and released them, revealing the two individuals trapped in them.
One was the bandit leader and the other was Vincent who was lying unconscious. He had controlled the vine to strangle him enough to knock him out.
"This here is the bandit leader who had troubled your village all this while. I leave him in your stead to pass judgment while I go in to resuscitate my tired form".
They subconsciously paved the way as he walked into the village grounds. They didn't know what they were doing. Rather, they did have an idea of what they should do in cases like this.
They were all bittered. How dare he come here and tell them he killed their own because he doesn't want to rule over the defiled.
How dare he deprive them of their loved ones for the sake of abiding by his nonsensical beliefs?
If it was up to them, they would gobble Mikeal up right then and there. But they couldn't, the ball wasn't in their court.
They had to remember that this same person in question was the one who had effortlessly taken care of a root cause that had troubled their village for a long.
He not only defeated the bandits, he also brought back their leader unscathed. He was no ordinary human they could vent their anger on.
They were malnourished with barely enough strength in their bodies to shout and make noise. What can they do to someone like that in their current predicament?!
There was also one other thing stopping them from acting out on Mikeal.
Fear!!
They fear him for what he is, for what he could do to them if they tried to reproach him directly. At least the majority of them do.
Either way, none wanted to speak up against his action. They were deeply bittered but they have their way of enacting revenge.
So for now, they simply paved the way for him to go through.
"This should do". Mikeal commented, standing at the centre of the village with space to spare.
He laid both palms on the ground and conjured a tree out of the earth. He grew the tree to be about eight feet tall, towering above any other huts around.
At the top of the tree, Mikeal used his ability to carve it open and built a tree house as wide as a one-bedroom flat. Due to its width, it ended up taking a lot of space from the village centre.
"If any of you need me, I will be up there".
Mikeal stood in front of the tree and placed his hand on its bark. The tree then provided him and Anna with a foothold that lifted them to the tree house.
The villagers bore witness to the process. They lived to testify the day an odd individual came into their abode, robbed them of their loved ones and did something they could not accomplish within a matter of seconds.
Building a shelter that can withstand the harsh weather and whatever stormy wind came its way.