(MC POV)
When it was nearing nightfall, I decided to stop by the roadside for the night and made camp.
Luckily, I could still manage to access my storage ring to bring out materials from it, although it did take me quite a while to activate it with the whole cultivation being suppressed thing.
Knowing that it would be a big problem in the future, I took the opportunity to bring out all the necessary tools I might need and stored them in a physical bag to carry. I also asked Xun Guan to add a traveller's cloak to my current outfit.
This should complete my disguise of being a traveller at least, inviting less questions.
Amongst the things I took out from the ring were some dried food, spare clothes, camping and survival tools like rope and waterskins alongside a handy knife.
Why do I have these things in my storage ring? It's precisely because I have experienced these types of situations that I thought to prepare such things beforehand.
Since we're still in an open plain, there wasn't anything much I could gather aside from some edible berries.
There were a few rabbits around but without a bow and arrow, it would be too troublesome for me to hunt them.
Xun Guan could probably hunt them easily but I didn't think there was a need to ask her to since we do have food anyway.
"Master seems to be very experienced in this," Xun Guan commented, watching me set up a small campfire using flint and steel.
"Let's just say needing to survive without the use of any Techniques can teach you a lot of things." I chuckled, sitting back on my sleeping bag.
"As expected of Master."
"It's not really a good thing though, since it was a do or die thing back then. But well, I got used to it."
"I see… But is it wise for us to start a fire, Master? Wouldn't it attract attention to us? If it's about warmth, I could help you with that."
Oh right… I actually forgot about that. I guess I was too focused on my previous life's experiences that I didn't think to rely on others now.
I was in the midst of considering if I should put out the fire or not when Xun Guan tightened herself around me.
"Someone's coming, Master."
I looked up just in time to see two men coming down the road, one of them with a sword on his waist and the other with a bow on his back.
I stood up and my hand immediately went to grab the knife, unsheathing it in a single motion.
"Woah, easy there, stranger. We mean you no harm," The one with the sword raised up his hands.
I narrowed my eyes at him, "That doesn't sound convincing for a pair of armed men approaching a fire without announcing themselves."
"Apologies, but we weren't sure if you were a male or not with that long hair of yours… You must understand."
"Why would that even matter?"
Both of them smiled at me, as though I said something funny.
"We would still like to keep our heads, stranger. Now, would it be possible to share your camp? We have food to offer, a few hares that we managed to hunt in exchange for your fire.."
"Xun Guan?" I whispered without moving my lips.
"No trace of cultivation, Master. They are not Practitioners."
I sheathed my knife, "You're welcome to share my fire. Sorry about the knife."
"Nay, we would have done the same in your stead."
I sat back down on my sleeping bag and the two men joined me on the other side of the fire. It was obvious they had a tiring journey by how they dropped their bags and half collapsed on the ground.
"Rough journey?" I asked.
The swordsman sighed, "Quite. It seems like there was something big happening around here and quite a number of Practitioners were flying around the place. We got stopped no less than four times while on the road to be questioned…"
His friend nodded, "One of them almost wanted to capture us to be interrogated too. Damn those Practitioners, making our lives harder just because they can throw some fancy magic around."
Well… That's a normal line of thought for non-Practitioners I suppose. I admit I may or may not have thought that way a few times in my previous life as well.
The bowman unhooked two of the hares he had hung on his backpack, both already skinned, gutted and bled.
Using two sticks to skewer them, he propped them up by the fire to roast them.
"So where are you two headed to?" I asked, trying to keep the conversation going.
"Alria town, we have some business there to take care of there," The swordsman explained, gesturing down the road vaguely.
That's an indication that they don't want to talk about it.
"What about you? Ah, sorry, we don't seem to have even introduced ourselves. I am Gale," The hunter pointed to himself. "And my friend here is Brick. We've been friends since our childhood."
I nodded at them, "You can call me Jeff, just making my way to the capital city for a new life."
The two of them looked quite surprised by that fact.
"Are you… A servant to one of the Sects?" Gale inquired, leaning forward.
I shook my head, "No, I heard there's an opening for an archivist in the Royal Archives. I'm hoping to get that spot."
Brick tilted his head slightly, "Ah, I'm not sure you're a really brave man or a foolish one. But I suppose best of luck to you."
I raised my eyebrow, "What do you mean by that?"
Gale pulled the cooked rabbits from the skewers and started cutting them up into three portions with his knife, "I'm not sure if you have heard, Jeff… But that position is usually occupied by the servants of prestigious Sects. If someone without any connection turns up there, even if you do get the job, you're going to have a hard time with the others looking down on you."
Huh… That explains why the other archivists and servants there always bothered me back then.
"Oh, I'm quite aware," I lied, smiling at them. "It's just that my current situation is worse than what could potentially be there. So I don't really have much of a choice."
Brick sighed, "I see… I think I understand what you're talking about so I won't pry. But as a fellow man, I would advise you to reconsider. The capital is where most of the women are, after all, so men like us are definitely going to be ostracised there."
Gale nodded, handing a plate of the rabbit meat to me, "If it was me, I'd rather just be the boy toy of some woman than go to the capital city."
Huh? Wait a minute.
I know the Royal Family is Matriarchal, but is he implying that males are second class citizens in this Plane?
I just had a thought…
"This might come as a rather odd question but… Have either of you heard of any male Practitioners?"
The two of them looked at each other before turning back to me.
"I do not believe we have…" Brick admitted. "Is that even possible? Isn't all Practitioners women?"
I knew it…
This Plane has a law that suppresses all male Cultivators. Because of that, men are treated as second class...
This is more troublesome than I thought.
