Elsa looked away from the honor table after a respectful bow to the Sheik and then looked back down on the first item up for auction.

It was lifted and dropped on a stand in front of her on the stage; a rusty dagger.

Or at least, at first glance, it looked rusty but looking even closer, an observer will note that what was on it was not rust exactly. Or more accurately, it was not just rust.

It was rust mixed with dried blood.

Dried blood that Hal could see had assimilated with the Metal of the blade,

"This is a nameless artifact which for the purpose of this auction and taking note if its features will be called the bloody dagger. This small looking and decrepit weapon is a low-grade Phenomenon rank artifact." Elsa said and with that discussions filled with disbelief broke out.

And they could not be blamed.

None of them had expected the dagger to have such a rank especially considering how it looked which even Elsa declared as decrepit.

From that moment on, their expressions changed from apathetic to interested. After all, a Phenomenon rank artifact could very well make the difference in battle.

Elsa continued,

"I do have to tell you though that since the weapon was used to kill the one who imprinted on it and whose blood now caked the blade, it is said to be cursed.

As for how it became a property to be auctioned. I'm sure you all know better than to ask. If you came to Black lagoon to shop, then you were obviously not doing it for legitimate goods." She said with a smile that drew chuckles from the crowd.

She was right of course and none of them could care less how the weapon or any other thing up for auction was gotten and it could very well have been stolen.

What mattered was that it was up for sale, all imprints and channels of track had been broken (which was a guarantee they had from the Sheik) and they could get it.

Hal nodded in admiration at how Elsa was presenting the dagger as though she had all knowledge of it when she had only read and memorized what the Sheik had written down for her.

Sort of like a script and she was an impressive actress.

That said, memorizing things was not exactly difficult for cultivating experts whose senses have been heightened.

And Elsa was definitely an expert.

He could not detect her cultivation which meant she had taken precautions to hide it unless she deliberately let it out.

"So with that warning, and with its a decrepit condition in mind, the bidding starts at 5000 blue gems or its equivalent in gold coins."

Elsa had not even completed her words that the first bid rang out,

"5100 Blue gems!" The bid was made by the portly merchant who looked totally enchanted as he stared at her.

The man sitting at his right with a leaner physique and muscular build snorted,

"5200 Blue gems!" He called out.

The portly man looked over at his neighbor and sneered but before he could place another bid someone else spoke out.

"5203 Blue gems" Hal called out with a slight frown.

Everyone turned to the honored seat and looked over at the sapphire blue-eyed young man who just interjected himself in a budding bidding war by adding a mere 3 Blue gems to the previous bid.

Seeing as the whole scene was suddenly quiet mostly because of how young he was and the surprise at his bid, Hal raised his brow,

"What, too much? Fine, 5201 Blue gems!" He said.

Elsa cleared her throat and looked to Hal with a light smile,

"I'm sorry sir. You can not decrease your bid once it's been called." She told him politely

Hal grinned but the sentiment did not touch his eyes which were still being shrewd at her,

"Oh is that so? I lost myself a little. 5203 it is"

The portly man glared at Hal for a second before he hurried to bid again.

Looking closely at him, Hal could almost see him as a dog wagging its tail,

"My goodness, get a hold of yourself man" he said in a low voice that only Lucile by his side heard.

She turned a fraction in his direction,

"Is that not how you are. How do you think you looked when staring at my chest?" She asked with her brow raised.

"Like a cute puppy" Hal replied without missing a beat and whether or not Lucile knew what a puppy was, the fact that 'cute' was part of that sentence told her that Hal was being narcissistic again.

"No, you were anything but cute. You were lewd"

Hal widened his eyes in mock surprise,

"Really?" He asked.

"If you are not going to take me seriously, I'll just stop talking to you" Lucile said and turned away.

Hal chuckled,

"Oh come on. I was kidding. Besides you keep dredging up the past. After all, I apologized already. And I was honest" he said with an attempt at making his eyes limpid.

'No you weren't' Grimoire piped and Hal ignored it.

"No you weren't" Lucile said.

'Would you look at that? Your new prospect and I are in sync' Grimoire gloated.

'Do not make this weird' Hal cautioned.

Then he sighed out loud,

"It's my curse for being so out of this world. So awesome that all my words are misunderstood. One day, I hope you can look past the exterior. I really don't want to peg you as such a shallow lady. Especially since you are so beautiful" he said.

"That statement is shallow" Lucile said and stopped Hal's tirade.

He shrugged,

"Agree to disagree. 6001 Blue gems!" He called out.

The bid for the dagger seemed to be heading towards a conclusion and Hal decided to make an input.

Much to the annoyance of the portly merchant who seemed to have finally pulled ahead in the bidding war with his neighbor.

There were two reasons Hal was making such bids;

The first was simply to at least show a semblance of participation and the second was that he wanted to study the dagger. He was curious if it truly was cursed.

However, he was not so desperate to have it.

Hence the small additions.

That said, he found it a little amusing that the merchant would want to purchase something he could not use on account of his small cultivation base and could not sell on the open market because of both the dagger's possibly dubious origins and plain terrible marketability.

If he let it go, Hal was ready to take it off his hands but if he stuck to bidding, then he might just win.

"6300!"

"6301"

"6400!"

"6401"

"6600!"

"6601"

The portly man swelled and his face turned red as he yelled his next bid,

"I bid 8000 Blue gems!"

There was a brief silence before Hal shook his head,

"I give up. You win" he announced and slumped back into his seat as though truly disappointed.

Gavin looked over at Hal,

"My lord, Don't you think he's being a nuisance" he said and the Sheik turned to eye him,

"Nonsense, Gavin. He's just bidding just like anyone else. I found the whole event entertaining. And in case you did not notice, he just bumped up our profit by having the dagger go for 8000 blue gems"

"8000 going once, going twice, sold" Elsa announced and smiled up at the merchant who looked like he had died and gone to heaven.

The next item was wheeled in and it was a beautiful white and gold-colored fan.

"This is mostly for ornamental purposes but it is also of good quality and sturdy enough to be used as a weapon. We can put its rank at the phenomenon as well but at the mid-grade.

It's a family heirloom that the supplier has decided to pawn off in urgent need of gems. It's the perfect example of elegance and lethality. It would be a beautiful present for a special someone."

'I agree' Hal thought 'I'll gift it to Melinda. Come to think of it, I've never given her anything as a fiance'

'I truly pity her. So neglected' Grimoire said.

'Shut up' Hal retorted.

"The bid starts at 2000 Blue gems"

Before anyone could place a bid, Hal spoke first...

"2001 Blue gems"

... and filled the heads of all those present with Black lines.