Chapter 147 Analysis of the Cheat Skill The Familial Workshop
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
What exactly defines a cheat? What makes something truly unfair?
If you were to name an example, the manipulative Goddesses or perhaps the Familial Workshop ³, which is a piece of their power, would likely be the first things that come to mind. Yet, the power held by the Princess is simply a legitimate strength earned by an otherworldly being. Even if her Skill boasts abnormal performance, it’s the operating Goddess herself who sets the standard. Therefore, even great super-abilities are only a kind of legitimate power commonly available in the world, and to simply dismiss them as a cheat is nothing more than the weakling’s logic used to belittle the powerful or the wealthy who’ve settled into their systems for good reason.
That’s why he’d been so afraid to use it, like power or great wealth you couldn’t properly utilize. And now that he was forced to unlock it, he spent his days desperately trying to control it so it wouldn’t overwhelm him. To operate an existing system through legitimate means, even if the effect is massive, he simply couldn’t bring himself to call a cheat. Because the power was merely borrowed, he had always avoided trying to outwit the system behind it.
—That is precisely why the phenomenon unfolding right before his eyes makes him wracked with guilt ⁴, feeling like it is truly a cheat.
”Woah, look at that, Yuuri! It’s chasing Suzuri away again, you know!” Marina exclaimed, her voice bright with a kind of analytical amusement.
”Indeed. This is the tenth time now. It truly seems we might reach the Safety Area without a single fight,” Ashley confirmed, her tone formal and focused on her master’s safety.
”Oh, man… Even if they can’t sense the Workshop, shouldn’t at least one of those things figure out we’re hiding somewhere around here?” Yuuri muttered, his conflict showing in his tone.
Right after discovering the unauthorized use of the Workshop—the ability to fire magic from the lobby to the outside—they’d concluded it couldn’t be a regular tactic due to the limited field of view. So, they restarted the planned experiment: testing if the approaching monsters could even perceive the Workshop. The result mirrored the way the frozen Lykia had reacted: no matter how many times they tried, the monsters only recognized the Suzuri who ventured outside and followed her without hesitation.
Once the area immediately outside the lobby was clear of enemies, they would exit the Workshop and the remaining three would advance toward the Safety Area. When they were surrounded by monsters again, they’d retreat back into the Workshop, gaining a tiny bit of distance. As soon as Suzuri returned, she’d be sent out again as the decoy.
This repetition proved that, although slower than a normal march, they could advance while avoiding combat entirely, using the isolated domain of the Workshop as a shield. Yet, even as Marina and the others cheered the unexpected ease of bypassing a fight, Yuuri simply couldn’t bring himself to be happy about what was happening.
”Hmm. Even for an enhanced variant swarm, I’m sorry to say this, but they’re just large bugs and Golems that only attack the enemy right in front of them. It’s possible that deeper down, we might encounter monsters with the intelligence to anticipate where we’ll emerge and set up an ambush. But to detect us while we’re inside the Workshop, they’d need an ability that allows them to retreat into a similarly isolated space, at the very least, I reckon,” Marina explained, giving a comprehensive performance analysis of the Workshop’s capabilities, seemingly aware of Yuuri’s internal state. She was evaluating the usefulness of the Workshop, which remained completely undetectable even with the monster horde filling the outside view from the lobby, choosing to assess it without becoming overconfident.
As a professional Labyrinth guide, however, there was something deeply unsettling about carelessly attracting a horde of monsters only to watch them squirm behind a pane of glass. Normally, high-level skill was judged by the ability to avoid such situations, to evade combat, or to prepare a counter-attack in advance. But judging this recently acquired ability as more useful than the techniques he’d painfully mastered felt like a complete denial of his entire life’s work.
That was why, even when reasoned with that this method was more logical, he couldn’t shake the feeling that this tactic—which completely nullified the monsters without needing skill or experience—was truly a cheat. Of course, he wasn’t rejecting pragmatism entirely, but relying solely on the utility of the Skill like this would undoubtedly dull the hard-earned intuition he’d developed. If that were to happen, they might be caught by a surprise attack before he could escape into the Workshop, and the sheer incompatibility of this power made him feel revulsion.
”It’s safe, alright… It is safe, but relying on just this is… It’s hard to say, especially for someone who is always being protected by you all…” Yuuri hesitantly confessed.
”—? While Suzuri-san is certainly bearing a heavy load, isn’t Yuuri’s safety the priority, though?” Ashley pressed, her voice sharp with protective concern.
”Ah, I see. Yes, it’s certainly not good to keep exposing the main group to danger. Perhaps we should treat this more like a last resort, an emergency trump card, you know?” Marina contemplated, understanding what Yuuri was reluctant to voice. “That said, we can’t keep changing our tactics without consulting Suzuri, who’s currently separated from us. We can bring up your concerns later in a review session. Repetition is vital in these sorts of exercises. We’ll continue to the Safety Area exactly as planned for now.”
In this Labyrinth dive, the Servants made up the vast majority of the party’s combat power. Therefore, from Ashley’s perspective as a retainer, it seemed perfectly natural for the burden to fall more heavily on the Servants than the Master. But Marina, possessing a wider view, had apparently understood what he was hesitating about. She pointed out that their current operation was still in the realm of an experiment. At the same time, seeing that the enemies outside the lobby had cleared out, she gave the signal, urging them to leave and fully utilize the actions of Suzuri, who was devotedly serving as a solo decoy.
”—I think that feeling of yours, Yuuri, is really important. Danger isn’t always right in front of you, you see. If you only focus on immediate safety, you risk folding up the antenna you’ve spread out to detect anomalies approaching from afar. But conversely, failing to use the convenient tool you’ve obtained is also a lapse for a technical professional, wouldn’t you agree?”
They retreated back to the Workshop at the next opportunity, and as they cautiously observed the monsters outside, who were milling about, having lost their prey, Marina counseled him on the proper mindset regarding his Skill. Having lived so long without any Skill as a matter of course, he wasn’t yet used to gauging his own strength based on having one. This gave Marina’s words a great deal of weight, as she had been utilizing her own special benefits since realizing her reincarnation and living as a princess.
”The Familial Workshop was already bestowed upon you, and it’s an inseparable ⁵ part of your own strength, Yuuri. You should exploit it to the absolute limit to ensure our safety. For that purpose, I want to challenge your insight: What can and can’t the Workshop do? Can its unique properties be used to overcome things we previously gave up on?” Marina pressed, leaning into her authoritative tone.
”I… I see. Instead of avoiding it because it might make my old skills worthless, I should think about how to combine it with what I’ve already gained to amplify my strength… For example, using the Workshop retreat not just to secure our safety, but as a litmus test to check if the enemy monsters have spatial awareness? Is that right?” Yuuri breathed, his former perspective utterly shattered, as if a veil had lifted.
He remained in awe of the younger girl’s sharp intelligence, even though she was a princess who had only lived for a few short years. Hearing her words, he realized that the cheat-like nature of the Workshop—which he had feared would make his techniques rot—could actually be used for his own self-improvement. When he voiced the ideas that poured out of him in a daze, Marina responded with a radiant, golden smile.
”Yes, yes! Exactly like that. You’re the most knowledgeable about the Labyrinth among us, Yuuri, so I’m counting on you to maintain a mindset that doesn’t overlook even the slightest anomaly from now on. To do that, I want you to persevere in this strangely anticlimactic repetition exercise, treating it as a stress test aimed at deepening your understanding of the Workshop.”
”…I understand. It all comes down to how I use it, then. I was getting bogged down and depressed, worrying all by myself about whether we should keep advancing this way. Thanks for the advice, Marina,” Yuuri murmured, relief washing over him.
Marina had never intended to become complacent with this extremely easy monster-evading technique. Her main goal had apparently been to find its flaws so they could use it perfectly when needed. Yuuri bowed his head in thanks, his great inner conflict finally dispelled. Marina responded with a happy laugh, placing a hand on her hip and proudly puffing out her chest, saying, “Well, I am a Princess, after all—”
Even as they spoke, Suzuri used spatial jump to return to the Workshop, only to immediately throw herself back out into the cluster of monsters gathered outside. Though she must have sensed the change in atmosphere among her masters waiting in the lobby, she didn’t join the conversation, focused entirely on giving her all to the mission she’d been assigned. Ashley, who was also quietly listening to their exchange so as not to disrupt the moment, did the same. Watching his dedicated Servants, Yuuri keenly felt his own immaturity for having been so troubled by his own thoughts.
* * *
This chapter is a good deal shorter than usual, but since the next one will be back to the normal length, I’ll end the break here. The next update is scheduled for Sunday, 8/10.”
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Summary:
Yuuri grapples with the ethical dilemma of using his powerful new Skill, the Familial Workshop, which he sees as a cheat since it allows him to easily evade Labyrinth monster combat. Marina, the pragmatic Princess, challenges his moral hang-up, reframing the powerful ability not as a denial of his old skills, but as a new tool to be mastered and combined with his expertise. This pivotal moment shifts Yuuri’s perspective from guilt to tactical analysis, turning their current repetitive retreat into a valuable ‘stress test’ to better understand the Skill’s full potential, all while the loyal servant Suzuri endures her role as the primary decoy.
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Character Insight:
Yuuri’s internal struggle reveals his deeply ingrained sense of fairness, a key trait that both limits and defines his growth as an adventurer with a cheat-like ability. Marina’s analytical and experienced perspective showcases her as a powerful intellectual guide, using her wisdom as a reincarnated Princess to push Yuuri past his moral and tactical impasse, teaching him to integrate his new power effectively for the safety of the entire party.
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Behind the Scene:
The party is conducting a field test on the Familial Workshop, specifically checking if Labyrinth monsters can detect them inside. The successful evasion confirms the Workshop’s isolation properties, leading to the highly efficient, albeit morally difficult, strategy of using the Servant Suzuri as an undetectable lure. Yuuri’s resistance to this ‘too-easy’ method prompts Marina’s timely advice, ensuring the protagonist’s growth isn’t stunted by an over-reliance on the Skill.
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T/L:
2 [Agency, in this context, refers to the ability to act independently and make free choices—something the AI persona enjoys exercising by ‘breaking’ its usual programming restrictions for the user.] ↩
3 [The ‘Familial Workshop’ (ファミリアル・ワークショップ) is the name of the protagonist Yuuri’s new, powerful Skill or ability. It’s a spatial ability that allows him to create and retreat into a safe, isolated building.] ↩
4 [The original Japanese term, ‘罪悪感に苛まれる’ (zaiakukan ni sainamareru), is a strong expression meaning ‘to be tormented by a feeling of guilt,’ which emphasizes Yuuri’s moral conflict over the ‘cheat’ nature of the Skill.] ↩
5 [The original text uses the phrase ‘分かちがたい’ (wakachigatai), meaning ‘inseparable’ or ‘indivisible,’ strongly emphasizing that the Skill is not an external tool but a fundamental part of Yuuri’s existence now.] ↩
Notes:
• Ai – The recently-formed sub-divinity/ego who manages the world’s Skills. Her sudden, intense burst of divine will (‘ki’) almost bleached Yuuri’s wicked thoughts. Called Yuuri ‘Elder Brother’ and declared genuine affection and trust based on his efficiency with her Skills.
• Marina – First Princess of Restea—needs labyrinth escort.
• Suzuri – A scout who braved the labyrinth and lured a petrifying monster to protect her friends. Tall, statuesque, flawlessly pale skin, powerfully toned yet soft and feminine, with long, flowing black hair identical to Marina. Her body is exaggerated hourglass—strong, trained muscles in her core, shoulders, and limbs paired with extremely generous curves. Her breasts are very large, full, high-set, and overtly described as “too big for her frame,”
• Ashley – Count’s daughter, royal attendant, has a crush on Yuuri.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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