500th Time Reborn, A World Only Known By Women: The Karma System

It sounded like Hilda might have been on to something, but I wasn't sure what it could be. If they were trying to kill her off or something because she was getting too close to the truth, then they would have done it by now instead of just making her disappear. But if they weren't trying to kill her, then where could she be?

"Do you have any idea where she might have gone?" I asked, and Mother shook her head.

"I am sorry, but we do not. She is not the first person to just up and disappear in this city, so I would not put too much importance on it if I were you," Mother said, and I frowned.

"You don't seem that concerned about this? Hilda was going to be running against Carrie, so does that mean you never had any intention to look into what she asked?" I asked, trying to see if pushing some buttons might help things along because I felt like I was getting nowhere fast.

"I never said that. We told her we would look into it, and we will, but I was not going to drop everything just because someone went missing. If you want to find Hilda, then I suggest you start looking in the seedier parts of town," Mother said plainly as she stood up from her chair and walked towards a door on the other side of the room.

"And where might I find these seedier parts?" I asked as she opened the door and motioned for me to leave.

"Just ask around. Someone is bound to know something," Mother said before she ushered me out of the room; clearly, our conversation was over whether or not I liked it or not at this point.

Lady Penelope was waiting for me, and the concerned look on her face was back as she walked up to me. "Mother can be a bit blunt, but she is right. If you want to find Hilda, then you are going to have to ask around in the seedier parts of town."

"And where would I find these places?" I asked her, and Lady Penelope hesitated for a moment before she started leading me back out of the building.

"There is one place that comes to mind, but it is a bit... dangerous," Lady Penelope said as we stepped out into the night air, and Connie came running up to us with a worried look on her face. "You could go see the Grashalor family..."

I tried not to sigh, but it escaped me anyways, and the Lady stopped and looked back at me with a frown. "Sorry, but I just came from there."

"Oh? Really? And you are not injured in some way?" Lady Penelope asked, looking me over, and I shook my head, holding my eye roll. "They are known to act... savage sometimes."

"No, my visit was more than fine. Thank you for your time, and if you hear anything else, please let me know. I will be around town, so I am sure it won't be hard to find me with the vine," I explained, and Lady Penelope nodded and turned back to walk me back to the front door.

I had a bunch more questions I wanted to ask about, but the atmosphere in the place had changed, and the rooms were now empty of women. I had wanted to ask about them, but I would have to get my information elsewhere, it seemed.

When the two of us got to the door, Lady Penelope slowed down, and I got closer to her, then she stopped abruptly. For some reason, this felt intentional, and I had time to stop, but I let myself walk into her clumsily. Both of us were knocked to the ground, but she turned as we fell and somehow slipped a square of folded paper into one of my pockets, so I caught her before she hit the ground and stopped myself at an impossible angle.

We both got back to our feet, and I dusted myself off before I bowed my head slightly. "Again, thank you for your time."

Without another word, Lady Penelope slipped out of the room and left me at the front door of the building. This was getting more complicated than it needed to be; all I wanted to do was find Hilda so that she could take her rightful place in charge since she was going to win before things got messed up. But now it seemed like there might be more going on behind closed doors than anyone knew about...

"Did you get what you needed?" Connie asked me from an alleyway a few streets away from the Balishire manor, but my mind was elsewhere as I thought about Lady Penelope and almost walked right past her, only stopping at the last moment.

Connie was looking back at me anxiously, but I shook my head and pulled out the paper that had been slipped into my pocket. It was a note with an address written on it, cryptic seeming symbols that I didn't recognize.

"I really don't know. I feel like I am just opening one can of worms up after another. I don't even want to go see the other three families!" I groaned, and Connie nodded.

"Yeah, they aren't really my favorite people in the world either, but I know that Hilda was pretty close with Sabrina from the Richmer family. If you can find her, she might be able to help," Connie said after a moment of thought.

I sighed as I looked at the paper again before pocketing it and started walking towards where Connie had come out of her hiding spot. "Do you know where this is?"

Connie nodded and started leading me away from the Balishire manner towards one of the other sections of town, somewhere that was a bit more run-down than anywhere else we had been yet today by far. The streets were darker here, too, since hardly any light made it into this section because all houses were built close together like sardines in a can.