Selina and Freya (1)

As the former second-largest and now the largest city in the Northwest Province, Fleidenburg had a population of 800,000 and was divided into four districts: the Freudenburg District, Upper District, Lower District, and Factory District.

The Freudenburg District was also the aristocratic district of the entire city, forming around the ancient Freudenburg Castle. Encircled by towering walls, this area was the crown jewel of Friedenburg City.

The Upper District lay to the east of the Freudenburg District, serving as a gathering place for the middle class such as merchants, teachers, lawyers, and civil servants, with fairly well-developed infrastructure and excellent public safety. The Lower District was located to the south of the Freudenburg District and the Upper District, serving as a haven for the poor and migrant workers; it was filthy, chaotic, and riddled with crime. As for the Factory District, it was an industrial zone formed after the Industrial Revolution to the south of the Lower District, near the Freuden River. Because of the economic depression and factory bankruptcies in recent years, many plants had been abandoned, and only a fraction of them persisted in production, making this once-prosperous industrial zone look somewhat desolate. Many workers who could no longer make a living joined local gangs, causing gang organizations in Friedenburg City to expand rapidly.

Because Ruhr Street in the Lower District was close to the Upper District—with a police station less than a hundred meters to the north—the vicinity around Ruhr Street had become one of the rare areas in the Lower District with a relatively good security environment.

The home of Selina and Freya was located on Ruhr Street. Their father had once been a highly skilled senior technician whose wages were among the highest in the entire Lower District; with just a few more years of