Adrian was alone again.
The thought settled over him more heavily than he expected.
For three years, Helen had been the closest thing he had to a family. Three years wasn't a lifetime, but it had been enough for her to become part of his daily existence—the familiar voice calling him downstairs in the morning, the tea waiting on the table, the quiet conversations at the end of long days.
And now he had finally said goodbye.
There would be no going back.
Adrian knew that.
He had spent years trying to convince himself that he could live an ordinary life. He had abandoned the path of the Seer, taken a mundane job, and buried his supernatural abilities beneath routine and silence.
But fate had found him anyway.
Bishop had come from the future.
Nova Roma had found him.
Someone in the future knew his name.
And somewhere ahead of him waited answers he couldn't reach by remaining in London.
Adrian stood beneath the gray London sky, hands buried inside his trench coat.
He had made a decision.
If he was going to continue down this path, he would do it differently.
The Clown potion had already begun its digestion. He could feel the changes within himself—the heightened balance, sharper reflexes, strange new instincts, and the ability to turn ordinary paper into deadly weapons through his spiritual energy.
But there was something more important than power.
His humanity.
He had already lost too much.
Mike.
His old life.
Now Helen.
He refused to lose himself as well.
Even if I eventually become the Fool...
Adrian clenched his fist.
I will not let madness take me.
Perhaps that was foolish.
Perhaps every Sequence eventually demanded a price.
But Adrian would pay that price with power, with blood, with suffering—anything except his humanity.
He turned toward the city.
There was somewhere he needed to go first.
The London Library.
The library was quieter than the streets outside.
Adrian stepped through the entrance and immediately felt the familiar scent of old paper and dust. Rows upon rows of books stretched into the distance, shelves filled with histories, geography, travel records, and forgotten knowledge.
He wasn't here to read.
He needed a map.
After some searching, Adrian found an old geographical map showing the major routes between Europe and Asia. He spread it across a large wooden table and studied it carefully.
India.
China.
Japan.
The journey would be long.
But first, he needed to know where he was going.
Adrian reached into his coat and removed a small object he had prepared earlier—a makeshift pendulum.
It wasn't elegant.
It didn't need to be.
He had learned long ago that divination didn't require expensive equipment. What mattered was the spiritual connection and the question.
He placed his finger against the pendulum and closed his eyes.
Where can I find the means to stand against Selene?
He couldn't search for Selene herself.
Not yet.
With only the abilities of a newly advanced Clown, directly confronting someone like her would be suicide.
He needed something else.
A weapon.
Knowledge.
An advantage.
Something that could give him a fighting chance.
Adrian allowed his spirituality to flow gently through the pendulum.
The object began to swing.
Slowly at first.
Then with increasing certainty.
Adrian watched the direction.
His eyes followed the movement across the map.
Europe.
Asia.
Further east.
The pendulum finally settled over Japan.
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
Japan.
More specifically—
Kanazawa.
He stared at the location for several seconds.
"So that's where my answer is."
He didn't know what waited there.
He didn't know whether it was an artifact, a person, knowledge, or something else entirely.
But the divination had given him a direction.
And for now, that was enough.
Adrian folded the map.
The journey wouldn't be easy.
London to India.
India to China.
Then from China to Japan.
There were no convenient airplanes or modern transportation waiting for him. He would have to rely on ships, trains, and whatever other forms of transportation he could find along the way.
Five or six weeks.
Perhaps longer.
And it wouldn't be cheap.
Adrian calculated the cost carefully.
Approximately thirty pounds for the third-class journey.
He wasn't exactly wealthy, but after leaving most of his savings with Helen, he still had enough to make the trip.
He went to the ticket office and purchased his passage.
Third class.
No luxury.
No comfort.
It didn't matter.
He wasn't going on holiday.
He was hunting for a way to survive.
Before leaving, however, Adrian decided to perform one final divination.
He placed the pendulum over the map again.
Will this journey be safe?
The pendulum began to move.
Left.
Right.
Left again.
Adrian watched silently.
There was danger.
But not enough to warrant turning back.
He frowned.
"Some danger."
That was expected.
A journey across half the world in the late 1920s was never going to be completely safe.
But the pendulum hadn't given him a strong warning.
Good enough.
Adrian folded the map and placed it inside his coat.
He left the library.
The evening air had grown colder.
London continued around him as if nothing had changed.
People hurried home.
Cars passed through the streets.
Shopkeepers closed their doors.
Couples walked together beneath the streetlights.
Adrian watched them for a moment.
He wondered how many of them understood how fragile their ordinary lives were.
How quickly everything could change.
He walked toward a nearby shop.
A few minutes later, he emerged with a packet of cigarettes.
He hadn't smoked regularly before.
But tonight, he wanted something to occupy his hands.
Adrian pulled one cigarette from the packet.
He struck a match.
The flame briefly illuminated his face.
He lit the cigarette and inhaled.
The smoke burned his lungs.
He exhaled slowly.
For a moment, he simply stood there.
Then he pulled his trench coat tighter around himself.
His luggage was small.
His destination was far away.
His enemies were somewhere behind him.
And somewhere in Kanazawa waited whatever fate had decided to place in his path.
Adrian took one final look at London.
He had left his home.
He had left Helen.
Now he was leaving the city itself.
There was no turning back.
He flicked the cigarette ash onto the pavement and began walking toward the station.
The fog swallowed him one step at a time.
And somewhere beyond the horizon, the Fool's journey continued.