The nearest police substation was not far from St. Sherman Church, at the other end of White Chrysanthemum Street. In fact, Tina and Dorothy had passed by it on their way from the subway station to the church to "make offerings" to the Genie. Neither of them had expected to return here ten minutes later, brought in by the police as suspects.
This was merely one of the many police substations in the East Borough. It occupied a two-story building facing the street, with shops on both sides, making it seem quite cramped.
Christina had never been inside a place like this before, but she had passed many police substations in Tingen City while going to school or out for fun. She knew that, to intimidate criminals and ordinary citizens alike and demonstrate their strength, they generally chose standalone buildings of at least three stories, with columns and arches decorating the entrance and several four-wheeled carriages usually parked outside.
As the capital of the country, Backlund's police stations seemed rather shabby... Tina quickly understood why. Most of the city's police force was likely deployed in areas where nobles and top-tier rich merchants lived, such as the West Borough, Queens Borough, and Hillston Borough. Even now, when the nobility had gradually faded from the core of power, this remained the case.
The reason was simple: the Loen Kingdom's police system did not exist solely to maintain public order and keep society running. A considerable part of its purpose was to protect nobles, the wealthy, and government institutions.
It was only in recent years, after representatives from the East Borough and Docklands demanded that police forces be allocated according to population rather than economic conditions, that the situation had improved somewhat.
Putting away her thoughts, Tina had barely stepped through the entrance