The Second Son of the Marquis Wants to Laze Around-Chapter 48: Eren Disappointed?

While everyone continued watching Eren stab the dead monster’s body with a crazed, intense expression, Kristoff walked slowly up to Commander Gareth and whispered awkwardly under his breath.

"Commander... shouldn’t we stop him?"

Gareth hesitated for a moment, his brows furrowed in difficulty as he stared at the scene. At first, he had decided to let the young master vent out his frustrations, even though he had absolutely no idea what had triggered such fury in the first place. Maybe the battle had affected him more than expected?

But now, seeing how the young master was still stabbing the troll’s corpse relentlessly—with wild eyes and a grin that looked borderline unhinged—Gareth realized the boy might be close to losing control... or worse. With a deep sigh, the commander stepped forward and began walking toward him.

Meanwhile, Useless was watching its master go completely off the rails with a crazy, wide smile that oddly resembled a yandere expression. it’s glowing screen flickered as it fidgeted anxiously. It had already tried to speak up earlier, telling it’s master to stop, but Eren wasn’t listening. The boy was completely lost in his own sea of frustration and annoyance.

Until—

–Crack!

A sudden, sharp noise echoed from within the troll’s chest just as Eren stabbed even deeper into it.

–PUFF!

The monster’s body suddenly burst into a swirl of dark ash, scattering into the air like burnt paper. In its place, a single, half broken green-colored crystal rolled onto the ground, glowing faintly before dimming out.

Eren froze, eyes wide in surprise, completely dumbfounded. He had no idea what had just happened.

"...?"

Blinking a few times, Eren stared at the empty spot where the troll’s body had been, then tilted his head and muttered in his mind.

’Useless... what just happened?’

[The monster’s body has disintegrated into dead mana particles and vanished,] Useless replied calmly, as if this were completely normal.

Hearing that, Eren’s brow twitched in visible annoyance as he yelled mentally.

’I can SEE that! I’m asking WHY that happened!’

The system flinched slightly at the tone but quickly began explaining in detail.

[It’s because you destroyed the magic gem inside the monster—the core that sustains its body.]

"Huh?"

[Every monster has a magic gem embedded deep within its body. It functions similarly to a heart—acting as a life source. As long as that gem remains intact, their bodies stay whole. But once the gem is broken or destroyed, the mana circulation that keeps the body together collapses. That causes the corpse to disintegrate completely into ash.]

Processing this new information, Eren turned his gaze to the surroundings. He noticed that there weren’t any monster corpses lying around at all—only scattered magical gems left behind like remnants. His eyes widened even more.

Absorbing that new piece of information, Eren felt even more pissed.

He had planned to humiliate the troll’s corpse after defeating it—stab it repeatedly, carve it up, and maybe even roast it over a fire just to relieve his stress. If the meat wasn’t poisonous, he would’ve eaten it out of spite. And if it was inedible, then it could’ve made a nice snack for other monsters.

But now, that entire plan was ruined.

’If I’d known this earlier, I could’ve just chopped off the limbs and left the area with the core untouched...’ he grumbled to himself, running a hand through his hair in frustration.

Unfortunately for him, Useless added one more piece of disappointing news.

[Master... even if you had done that, the corpse would still have turned to ash within an hour. Once the monster dies, the gem starts slowly shutting down, and when it fully deactivates, the body crumbles to dust automatically.]

"..."

Eren’s expression turned dull and cold. Feeling more annoyed as he held back his rage. Sensing the change in his mood, Useless wisely chose to keep quiet, not wanting to get scolded again.

...

...

...

After the monster attack had ended, thankfully, there were no casualties, and the carriages and supplies remained completely undamaged thanks to the protective magic barriers.

Some knights had suffered minor injuries during the battle, but the three accompanying doctors had already begun treating them with healing potions and spells.

Meanwhile, Eren sat outside on a flat rock a little away from the others, sulking silently with lazy eyes. Marie, ever persistent, stood beside him, fussing endlessly. One of the older doctors, a wrinkled man with sharp eyes, was also inspecting him.

"For the last time, I said I’m fine," Eren muttered with a deep frown, clearly annoyed by the attention.

"But young master," Marie insisted gently, "we need to make sure. You might have been splattered with troll blood, or worse—swallowed some of it accidentally—"

Eren gave her a sharp, half-lidded glare that immediately silenced her. She lowered her head and stepped back quietly with a sad pout.

He let out a sigh, pulled out a pouch of gold coins from his spatial ring, and handed it to the old doctor without saying much.

"Here. Take this and go attend to the knights. They need you more than I do."

The old man’s face lit up instantly. He gave a hasty nod, bowed politely, and walked off with a satisfied grin, coin pouch in hand.

’Wow... doctors in this world are just as greedy as dumb,’ Eren thought, leaning one elbow on his knee and resting his cheek against his palm with a lazy, dull look in his eyes.

Although Eren wasn’t seriously injured or wounded during the battle, he still needed to rest for a while. A dull headache had begun to throb behind his eyes—not from a blow or physical strain, but from overusing illusion magic. It was one of the side effects he hadn’t considered before pushing his mind too far.

====

[True Illusion Magic: Lv3 (37/100)]

(No Chanting required)

The highest tier of illusion-based magic that grants the user the ability to create convincing visuals, sounds, and camouflage using nothing but thought and imagination. This magic allows the user to trick enemies with fabricated terrain and images, fooling them into seeing exactly what the user wants them to see. The strength of the illusion heavily depends on the user’s mental strength and creativity.

====

Over the past two days, Eren had used this spell extensively. He used it a lot of times just to hide his game console from the nosy eyes of others. Then, during the recent fight with the troll, he’d used it to much. The spell had leveled up three times as a result of his constant use.

Although he had only bought the skill on a whim while browsing the system’s store, it turned out to be far more useful than he had initially thought. It allowed him to fight with minimal movement, casually walking in circles around the confused and furious troll while it attacked his illusions with reckless abandon. The beast kept swinging its massive club at thin air, falling for every fake copy of Eren like an idiot.

Unfortunately, in his rage and frustration during the battle, Eren had completely forgotten to command Useless to generate a quest. So he didn’t get any rewards or SP from the fight. But honestly, at the moment, he couldn’t care less.

Just then, a figure slowly approached him from across the camp. It was one of the knights—specifically, the poor guy who had been sent flying like a ragdoll by the troll earlier and slammed into the side of a carriage. His armor was still dented from the impact.

"Young Master Eren," the knight greeted respectfully, bowing his head slightly. He looked young, probably in his early twenties, with jet-black hair and eyes that hinted at humility and slight nervousness.

"Well, well," Eren muttered in a dry, stoic voice, glancing at him lazily. "If it isn’t the brave warrior who failed to kill the troll and went flying into my carriage like a sack of potatoes."

"–Ack," the knight let out a small noise as if the words physically stabbed him. His face flushed slightly from embarrassment.

Noticing the awkward silence and the man’s hesitation to speak further, Eren raised an eyebrow. "So? What is it?"

Clearing his throat, the knight finally spoke. "Master Eren... may I have my sword back?" he asked with a sheepish smile.

Only then did Eren realize that the weapon was still resting against the rock beside him, stained with dried monster blood. He reached out and picked it up, examining the blade. There were several cracks in it, probably caused during the heat of his battle against the troll.

"Here. You can have it back," Eren said nonchalantly, holding it out toward the knight.

"Th-Thank you—"

But just as the knight reached for it, Eren pulled the sword back slightly, making the man blink in confusion.

"What’s your name?" Eren asked, his expression still unreadable.

"Huh?"

The knight quickly straightened, thumped a fist against his chest, and answered proudly, "It’s Lancer, sir. Hector Lancer."

Eren raised an eyebrow with a faint smirk. "Lancer? Then why are you using a sword instead of a spear?"

"Huh?" Hector tilted his head, clearly confused by the question.

Sighing, Eren tossed the sword toward him. "Forget it."

Hector caught the weapon and gave a respectful bow. As he looked down at the cracks, Eren added casually, "You’ll need to get that fixed. I doubt it’ll hold up for another fight."

Hector studied the blade silently for a moment before offering a confident smile. "Don’t worry, young master. There are some spare weapons in the supply cart. I’ll manage."

His tone was optimistic, but the way he scratched the back of his head awkwardly made Eren frown. With an irritated sigh, Eren reached into his spatial ring, pulled out a pouch of golden coins, and tossed it at him.

"Here. Take this as compensation for using your sword."

The knight instinctively caught it, blinking in surprise. "B-But Master Eren, I don’t think you reall—"

"Shut up and take it. That’s an order," Eren said sharply.

"Y-Yes, sir." Hector immediately quieted down.

"Use it to fix your sword... or for something else. I don’t care," Eren added, waving him off lazily.

Touched by the unexpected generosity, Hector clutched the coin pouch tightly. For a moment, he looked like he might cry. Who said the young master was heartless? he thought, deeply moved.

Some nearby knights who witnessed the exchange were visibly surprised. Their expressions softened, realizing Eren wasn’t as cold and selfish as the rumors made him out to be.

Although, he still has the same lazy eyes.

Meanwhile, Marie, the personal maid who was standing near Eren, looked at the knight and asked with gentle concern, "Are your injuries alright, Sir Knight?"

Hector looked flustered by her attention. "Ah? I—I’m fine. The doctor gave me some healing potions. My back feels as good as new now."

"Oh? Well, that’s good!" Marie replied with a bright, cheerful smile.

Hector blushed slightly, caught off guard by her kindness.

Eren observed the two of them with a dull expression, his eyes half-closed in lazy annoyance.

’Just take her on a date and marry her or something’, he thought.

Then, turning back to Hector, he asked, "By the way... what’s the commander doing right now?"

Hearing the young master’s question, Hector quickly replied, "He’s interrogating the culprit right now."

"Culprit?"

Eren’s posture stiffened, his previously relaxed body now tense. His eyes widened in surprise and growing confusion at the unexpected revelation.

Hector nodded seriously, beginning to explain further. "Yes. Sir Leon and Sir Kristoff managed to capture the one responsible for the ambush. Apparently, it—"

However, before he could finish his sentence, the words caught in his throat. His voice faltered as a familiar chill ran down his spine—a sinister, suffocating presence was leaking from Eren once again.

Even Marie instinctively took a step back, her eyes trembling with unease.

Both of them stared at the young master in stunned silence.

That same eerie wide smile had returned to Eren’s face—calm and unsettling. But more frightening were his eyes. They had shifted, now glowing with a deep, blood-red hue, empty yet seething with something dark and unspoken.

...

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