Ben noticed as the miners were running over to me and joined them. Smiling and basically sprinting towards me.

"Jameson! You're okay! Ah, I'm so glad. Well. not just me, we all are!"

The miners nodded in agreement but didn't falter in their speed.

That's great but why is no one slowing down?! They're gonna plow over me at this rate. I just got back and now I might be trampled to death. Oh, joy.

I gotta say something right? But wouldn't it be kind of rude if I side-stepped all of the joy they're literally hurtling at me? Nah I'm not gonna move but I am going to say something. I can't just passively stand here while I get run over.

"Hey, guys! Can you please slow down so I don't get trampled? Please!", I said raising my voice a bit so that I could be heard over the clamor of the miners.

Hearing this the miners slowed their charge down to a fast jog and I knew that they were now more conscious about the speed they were going so I was confident that they wouldn't steamroll right over me.

The miners reached me not long after that, even though their pace had slowed down, and there was a giant group hug.

Wow. I don't think I've ever felt this loved. I mean my parents were very loving but this is just a ridiculous amount of love. I feel like I should say something—stupid public speaking. Yeah, I need to say something though. Here goes.

I gently maneuvered myself out of the crowd of people until I was safely away from the crowd of miners. I noticed that Ben hadn't entered the fray but had slowed slightly. Even though he hadn't joined in the group hug though I could still feel an immeasurable amount of appreciation and joy coming from him.

Wow, Ben seems to appreciate it even more than the miners which I guess makes sense. I mean I basically saved the town's primary export. Ah, it feels great to be appreciated. Anyway time for this speech. Take deep breaths, James. Deep breaths.

"Could I have everyone's attention, please? I'd like to say something", I said in a loud but gentle tone of voice.

All the miners turned toward me and I could see high expectations in their eyes.

"Thank you. So I'm not good with the whole speech thing so I'm just gonna say what I mean."

"So obviously I got out of there alive since well I'm standing here in front of you all."

I picked up a few soft chuckles coming from the group of miners after which they cheered.

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"Yes thank you. And I have even more good news to report. Some of you might've suspected this already but the Giant Spiders are now completely gone!"

The miners cheered even louder now and I could tell they were very tempted to start parading me around like some kind of king.

"Thank you. However, I'd like to mention that I couldn't have done this without you guys. Every one of you played a role. From the miners that first fought the Giant Spiders to the ones that helped to hold them off once they got up to the surface. I really couldn't have done it without you all. Obviously Ben also played a very important role and I can't thank him enough. So with that being said thank you all so much!"

Well, except those few who ran out when the Giant Spiders were attacking in the uh surface mines or whatever those guys don't deserve any thanks but I'm not gonna ruin the mood by mentioning them. And honestly, I can't blame them that much for running away I mean everyone wants to preserve their life and they were Giant Spiders.

I think most people would be scared silly when encountering that situation anyway so they're not bad people they're just not as good as the miners that stayed to help. I think. I don't really know that's just my opinion right now. Perhaps I should've paid more attention to that Philosophy class thing I took in High School although that was only to fulfill the graduation requirements anyway.

After the miners were sure that I was done they burst into cheers along with Ben. They all started rushing toward me again but I held up a hand and they stopped.

Jeez, they're like a human steamroller or something. I should've just had the miners steamroll over the Giant Spiders! We would've absolutely demolished them. Although that would probably have resulted in some casualties on our side so yeah that's a bad idea. Funny concept though.

Noticing that there was now some awkward silence Ben piped in.

"How about we go back and have a celebration!"

This was met with more enthusiastic cheers from the miners.

A celebration? That sounds great! Also, I feel like some of the miners are gonna lose their voices if they keep cheering like that...

Ben looked towards me for affirmation.

Aw, that's nice of him but he's the leader of Yarthaw, not me...

"Of course! A celebration would be wonderful!"

The miners cheered again and started rushing back towards the village like a tidal wave on steroids.

I looked at Ben and he gave me a helpless look before following behind the miners. I decided to just join in on the merriment and ran to catch up to Ben and the others.

Why are they moving so fast?! We have all the time in the world to party but my stamina when sprinting isn't something that lasts for much time at all! Also, this pickaxe is heavy! I should've given it to Keith immediately!

By the time we'd reached the village, everyone was waiting for us.

I guess they heard the absolute racket we were making!

I noticed Dob and Lob standing there also waiting and saw them scanning the group of people to try to find me. I rushed over to them smiling widely.

Dob noticed me running over and pulled at Lob's sleeve before rushing toward me. We all met in the middle and joined in a small group hug. I could tell they were happy to see me.

They probably got worried that it took so long for me to get back. They're so sweet.

Ben let the villagers talk for a bit before he made an announcement.

"Alright, who's ready to party! I'll explain why later! Just know that Jameson saved all of our lives!"

It's a bit more complicated than that...

Immediately every single eyeball turned towards me and I gave a meek wave in an attempt to make them satisfied enough to look away.

Nothing to see here. Nothing at all.

"Guys enough staring! You can appreciate Jameson all you want later! It's party time now!", Ben said in a very enthusiastic voice.