Many thanks to Tianyu Technician for the tip. Jiaoshou was deeply grateful.
Just as Rex was about to walk out of the shop, the Goblin could bear it no longer. A bitter expression crossed his face, and the light in his eyes dimmed.
Hearing the shout behind him, Rex paused. Instead of taking another step, he stopped in the doorway and said, "That's too much. I can only give you 12 gold coins for your trouble."
The Goblin drove a hard bargain, but Rex was no pushover either.
The Goblin had lowered his price by one gold coin, from 1,000 to 999, while Rex had only raised his offer from 11 to 12.
"998," said the Goblin.
"12," said Rex.
"997," said the Goblin.
"12," said Rex.
"996," said the Goblin.
"12," said Rex.
"200," said the Goblin.
"20 gold coins," Rex said firmly once again.
Back and forth they went, endlessly haggling over the price. On the whole, however, the Goblin was getting the worse end of it, because Rex had seized upon his fatal weakness: he could sell his goods to no one but Rex. If Rex refused to buy, the Goblin would not be able to sell them at all. He had very little room to maneuver and no leverage whatsoever. If Rex really left, all he could do was cry.
That was why Rex could take such a firm stance. Their positions in this deal were fundamentally unequal.
If the Goblin could sell his goods to anyone else, Rex would never have been able to stand so firm.
"Your Highness, this is something good. Something very, very, very good. I risked my life for it. 200 gold coins, and not a coin less," the Goblin stressed once again.
He kept hopping about in front of Rex.