Antifragile

“Princess, are you sure that this is a good idea?”

“Honestly, no. But at this point, anything is better than staying in the palace. I refuse to be married off, to my cousin no less.”

“Where will you go? There is nobody to save you out here.” Kazuha argued.

“I will find Eunbi and seek shelter with them. Come on! We don’t have time, the guards will be coming to search for me soon.” Sakura urged.

Kazuha reluctantly followed the princess, sighing under her breath. While she disapproved of the princess’s idea, it was her duty to protect her from all harm. Even if Sakura decided to go to the depths of the earth, Kazuha would follow her.

“Do you even know where to find them?”

“Of course I do! I always have a plan.” Sakura defended herself.

Kazuha shrugged her shoulders, giving in to the princess. She was too tired to argue.

Sakura spotted the fruit seller from the other day, bounding off to speak with him. The seller eyed her curiously, she seemed unfamiliar.

“Do I know you? Are you new here? I know just about everyone and I’ve never seen you before.” He asked.

“I’m the daughter of a passing merchant. By any chance, do you know someone named Eunbi?” Sakura ventured.

The man’s face darkened, hatred and anger clouding his gaze.

“Who doesn’t know her? She and that pathetic little gang are always coming to rob my store. I’ve lost so much money thanks to them!” He lamented dramatically.

“I see.”

“Why? You aren’t associated with them right? If you’re thinking about joining them, don’t bother. The soldiers are after them, it will only be a matter of time before they are tracked down and executed. They deserve it, if you ask me. Pesky little kids.” The man growled.

“Maybe they have no other means of protecting themselves, that’s why they steal? They need to survive after all.” Sakura suggested gently.

“It’s not my problem if they don’t have money! They should find a job or something, instead of stealing from law abiding, loyal citizens like me who are trying to make an honest living.” He grumbled loudly.

Sakura shoved a bunch of coins into his hand, raising her eyebrow expectantly.

“Here, this should cover your loss. Is this enough?”

The man slowly counted the coins, his eyes growing wider with each coin. A smile slowly dawned on his face as he tucked the coins away, laughing gleefully.

“No going back on this okay? Since you’re so nice, I won’t hold a grudge against them for now.” He giggled, hugging the coins joyfully.

“By any chance, do you know where they are?”

The man gestured for Sakura to lean in closer, while the princess tried not to grimace at his stench. How long had it been since he had a bath?

“Rumour has it that they’re currently hiding a couple of hundred metres from the end of this market, in a small house just west of the honey store. You can try your luck there.”

Sakura thanked him, running away as fast as she could. Her sheltered life in the palace had not prepared her for commoners, and certainly not for how smelly they would be. It was as if none of them bathed for a month.

“Princess, guards.” Kazuha warned.

A large group of guards were going around the market, roughly interrogating citizens. Sakura cursed when she recognised the drawing of herself in their hands, grabbing Kazuha to run away and hide. She hid in an empty stall, ducking below the counter in hopes of remaining unnoticed. She heard the guards grabbing the fruit seller, yelling at him in Japanese.

Sakura dared a peek at the seller, who was trembling from head to toe. He slowly pointed towards the empty stall, shaking as the guards dropped him. Sakura cursed, springing to her feet and sprinting off. Kazuha took a bit longer to realise what was happening, running after Sakura frantically.

“Stop right there!” The guards demanded, chasing after them.

Sakura was grateful for the clothes Kazuha had chosen for her. They were light and airy, allowing her to run as fast as possible. The guards were gaining speed however, and were closing the gap. Kazuha dared a glance behind, her eyes widening in fear.

“Princess! Look out!”

A loud shot was heard, before there was a thud. Sakura stopped, rooted to the ground in horror. Kazuha collapsed onto her back, bleeding from a wound in her shoulder.

“Princess, run.” Kazuha croaked.

“I’m not leaving you behind, come on Zuha. We can make it!” Sakura encouraged.

Kazuha gathered her strength, staggering onto her feet. Sakura grabbed her friend’s hand, protecting her as the guards closed in on them.

“As the princess, I command you to stand down. Or else, I will have you all arrested and put on trial for injuring a staff of the royal palace.” Sakura ordered sternly in Japanese.

“Arrested by who? We can’t arrest ourselves can we? Nice try princess, but we have orders direct from the king himself. You are coming with us.” The guards sneered, lunging for Sakura.

Sakura spun around, delivering a swift kick to the guard’s face. He groaned as he stumbled back, blood now dripping down his face.

“Fuck! This bitch can fight! Get her!” He growled, wiping his bloody lip.

Sakura braced herself for the incoming attacks, but a sudden interruption saved her.

“Help! Please help! My friend was attacked by a Korean citizen and is dying!” A girl screamed in Japanese, clinging onto a guard in a display of despair.

The guard looked conflicted, glancing at his leader for orders. The leader looked unimpressed by the whole ordeal, shoving the girl away roughly.

“We don’t have time to deal with your petty nonsense. Go!” He snapped.

“Please! She is the daughter of a Japanese nobleman. Her father is in the Ministry of Defence, he works directly under the Minister! What would he say if his guards fail to save his daughter? You will surely be stripped of your position and punished.”

“I am acting on the orders of the king himself. If there is a problem, please ask the minister to talk to the king.” He argued.

“I am sure that our own minister outranks the Korean king. What would our esteemed Emperor say if he saw you prioritising a Korean over a Japanese?” The girl whispered, smirking as she delivered her threat.

The guard sighed, dismissing the girl.

“Tie them up, then follow me. We will return to deal with them later.” He ordered gruffly.

Kazuha was far too weak to continue running, and whilst Sakura did the best she could to defend herself and Kazuha, she was no match for the guards. The guards managed to tie them to a post, securing the rope tightly. Sakura screamed and yelled at them in Japanese, trying to use her authority but to no avail.

After ensuring that Sakura and Kazuha were secured, the guards rushed after the girl. Sakura continued to struggle against the rope, her wrists red from the friction. Just then, another girl appeared. She bowed to Sakura, gesturing for her to remain quiet. She gently cut the rope, helping Kazuha to her feet.

“We need to get out of here quickly. Follow me, I have a safe place so that your friend can recover.” She whispered in Japanese.

Sakura and the girl supported Kazuha, who was drifting in and out of consciousness. Thankfully, the safe house was not far. Soon, Kazuha was laid to rest on a soft bed, and the girl had helped to apply some medicine and bandage her wound.

“I cannot thank you enough. I owe you my life.” Sakura said appreciatively.

“Anything for my princess. Now I just hope that Nako is alright.” The girl replied, looking anxious.

“Nako?”

“The girl who was putting on a dramatic show earlier to distract the guards. She’s my best friend. The guards won’t be happy when they find out they’ve been tricked.”

“Don’t worry Hii-chan, I’m alright.” Nako answered as she stumbled in through a back door.

Nako looked mostly unharmed, aside from a bruise on her face. Sakura bowed to her in thanks, looking worried.

“Are you alright? Did the soldiers hurt you?” She demanded.

“It was just a small slap, it’s not a big deal. I got away after telling them that my dad is the minister of foreign affairs. The complete change in attitude that they had was so funny. They went from trying to murder me to sucking up to me in a matter of seconds.” Nako brushed it off lightly, waving her hand to dismiss the matter.

“You’re looking for Eunbi right? We can help you, we know where they’re hiding. Though maybe we should wait for your friend to recover first.” Hitomi offered.

“That would be great. If you don’t mind me asking, who are you two?”

“I’m Yabuki Nako, the daughter of the minister of foreign affairs. This is Honda Hitomi, my best friend and partner in crime. She’s the niece of the minister of defence. We’ve been living in Korea for a few months while our families work out some political stuff. We have a lot of freedom, so we befriended Eunbi and her gang after saving them from the soldiers once. ” Nako explained.

“Then how did you know who I was?”

“Who doesn’t know who you are? You’re renowned for your beauty and grace. And as it turns out rumours of your incredible fighting skills are true after all. It is our honor to meet you.”

“The honor is all mine, and I am eternally grateful to you. The truth is, I ran away from the palace. Now my father wants me home so that he can avoid coming under my grandfather’s wrath. I was hoping to seek refuge with Eunbi after her group showed me kindness when they accidentally abducted me.”

Hitomi and Nako exchanged proud smiles, nodding their heads.

“Leave that to us, don’t worry, you’re in good hands.”