We use a ladder to climb down the pit in the hut.
We carefully descended in the order of Mee, Satsuki, me, and Cyril, based on our ability to fight traps and white soldiers...

'William. I'm sure you'll be fine, but don't look up, okay?

These words fall from Cyril as I descend the ladder, before I've even started on it.

'...... Up? What's that?'

Before I can think, I reflexively look up, and what jumps into my view is...

'Wait, ......?

Cyril's surprised voice.

Oh shit, so that's what happened.
I hurriedly averted my gaze downward.

The inside of Cyril's robe, where he had just put his hands and feet on the ladder, was beautifully visible from below.
Moreover, the light from the torch that Mee had thrown into the bottom of the pit was shining upwards, so it was rather obvious, even though it was dim.

'Sorry, sorry. I didn't mean any harm.'

'Ugh, ...... I know, I know. That was my mistake. Don't worry about it.'

There's a great deal of tension in a situation like this, but it was an accident. It's unavoidable.
I like to think so.

And so, despite the accident, the four of us made it to the bottom of the pit.

The pit itself is not very wide, so when we all stood at the bottom, it was like we were half crammed together.

The pit itself is not very wide, so when we all stood at the bottom, it looked like we were half crammed in. 'It's too narrow ...... or too hot! I'm not sure what to do. I'll take it. It's too dangerous for little Mee to be holding it!

Don't call me short! Don't think that being tall makes you great!

'Hey, hey William, can't you go a little further? Our bodies are so close together. ......'

'That said... This one is in contact with Satsuki here: ......'

'Oh, I don't mind, you can come closer to me. I don't mind.

They were whispering to each other in a whisper, but it was not tense at all.
If I were to be attacked in such a situation, I would be in for a world of hurt, but as far as I can tell, that is not going to happen, so there should be no problem.

Before I went down this pit, I used a see-through spell in the cabin.
I looked through the floor and saw what was underneath.

What lay beneath the penetrated floor was a vast underground space.
The size of the hut on the ground was very small compared to the vast underground space.

There is a door on the wall next to the bottom of the pit where we are now, and the underground space exists beyond the door.

The underground space is a large space with a height of about three meters from the ceiling to the floor, a width of about fifteen meters from the left and right walls to the wall, and a depth of more than twenty-five meters from the door to the front, according to a rough estimate when viewed from above.

The reason why the width is more than 25 meters is because the see-through vision from inside the hut could only show that much due to the range of its effect.
Strictly speaking, see-through is not a spell that allows you to see through obstacles, but a spell that allows you to ignore obstacles and see the space within the spell's area of effect.
The area of effect of this spell is 30 meters around the center of the magician. The effect is that you can't see any further than that.

On the other hand, there were dead bodies everywhere in the underground space.

Most of them are dead animals, but there are also many dead bodies that appear to be human.
Some were placed haphazardly, some were placed on straw, and some were piled up on the magic circle drawn on the ground.
There are various types of corpses that seem to belong to humans, including men, women, children, adults, and the elderly.

I also looked around the hut, but could not see Alice within the see-through effect.
She is probably in the underground space, just beyond where I could not see her.

I stayed close to Satsuki, Mee, and Cyril and told them about the situation that lay ahead.

'...... So there's a good chance that Alice is just beyond this door.

I shook my head at Satsuki's reply.
It's possible that there's an escape route beyond that and she's already escaped, but considering the fact that this place is supposed to be a laboratory and the flip-up door of the hut's pit was left open, I think that's unlikely.

'Incidentally, the place right after you get out is probably out of range of any attack magic. It's the same for us. If the enemy has a bow, that is a different story. ......'

The range of spells that can harm the enemy is about 30 meters at most.
I can't see through my current position, so I'm probably farther away than the range of offensive spells.

In the event that she's just 30 meters away, it's going to be a contest between me and Alice in terms of the speed of our spell chanting, but I think I'm in control if that happens.
I've been training in magic since I was at the academy, always with an eye on using spells in actual combat, so I'm sure I won't lose to any of those masters in spell casting speed.

And the only way to attack from a distance longer than 30 meters would be with a ranged weapon such as a bow and arrow, but it was hard to imagine Alice using a bow.
And even if she had prepared an army of undead, undead are usually not dexterous enough to handle such complicated tools as bows and arrows.

Anyway, I guess what we should do here is just go in as usual and deal with the situation as we see fit.

'Okay, let's go, guys. I don't have much magical energy left. I'm counting on you all to do your part. But...'

'But... take it easy and save your lives, okay?

Mee replies.
I nod strongly at her.

''That's right. If it comes down to it, I'll consider retreating. In that case, come back to this place as fast as you can. If you do, I'll take care of the exit.'

'Okay, sir.
'Okay!
'Yes, sir.

After confirming the replies from all three of them, I gave the go-ahead to Mee to open the door.