Holmes of Kyoto: Volume 17 [Complete] by Mai Mochizuki

Author:Mai Mochizuki
Language: eng
Format: epub

4

The next day, I was waiting at a Western-style stone house near the Philosopher’s Walk—the Yagashira residence.

Holmes fully opened the front door. “Please come this way.”

The visitors were staff from a partition rental company and art transport specialists. With careful, practiced movements, they carried the partitions and paintings into the house.

The exhibition room was originally a special hall that displayed the Yagashira family’s collection. It was now completely empty, the pieces having been moved to another room. The staff used the tape markings on the floor to set up the partitions. The work went quickly, and less than an hour later, they began to leave.

We thanked them and looked around the exhibition room again. The empty hall was now divided with partitions. It was the manifestation of my proposal, which Rikyu had turned into a proper blueprint. Even though the walls were still bare, my heart was already racing with anticipation.

“Aoi, is something wrong? You’re spacing out,” said Holmes.

“Oh, no. I was just touched. The divisions make it feel like a real museum.”

“There’s still more to come. Let’s check the pieces that arrived.”

“Okay.”

The paintings had been left at the entrance for the time being. Holmes pointed at them as he referenced the list. “These are the ones that Takamiya provided. His collection is mostly by Taisei Ashiya—Ensho’s father.”

Takamiya was a wealthy man who lived in Okazaki, Kyoto. He loved art and was dedicated to fostering artists. In the past, he had recognized Taisei Ashiya’s ability and supported his talent. It was only natural that he possessed many of his works. And now, father and son’s paintings were gathered here.

“Which one is Ensho’s?” I asked.

“Which do you think it is?”

Having the question turned back around made me nervous. Takamiya had provided six paintings. Two depicted Japanese landscapes, three depicted Chinese landscapes, and the last one was a mandala. Out of these, four were size 10—the standard painting size with a length of 53 centimeters. Two of them were much larger: the mandala and one of the Chinese landscapes. Both of them looked to be size 100—a length of 162 centimeters.

The list said that one of the paintings was titled Chang’an.

“Chang’an...”

When I looked at it, it all clicked. The townscape was divided into neat sections like Kyoto. It had a beautiful, bright vermilion palace, birds, large peonies, and dancing female entertainers. It was gorgeous and full of life. I felt as if I could peer into the painting and hear the sounds of its world. Looking at it made my eyes watery.

“This Chang’an is by Ensho, right?”

“Yes.” Holmes nodded.

“It’s incredible. It reminds me of how moved I felt when I saw his painting of Suzhou for the first time.” I pressed a finger to the tears forming in the corners of my eyes.

Ensho’s paintings on display at Kura, Suzhou and Yu Garden by Night, had already been brought here. Those had been size 100 as well.

“It was the same for me,” said Holmes.

“Huh?”

“When I saw Chang’an, it had the same impact as Suzhou.

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