Holmes of Kyoto: Volume 17 [Parts 1 to 5] by Mai Mochizuki

Author:Mai Mochizuki
Language: eng
Format: epub

3

Upon stepping outside, the chill gradually seeped in. In terms of perceived cold, Kyoto was probably the coldest city in Kansai.

Ensho shivered slightly and put on his hat. It made it easier for his bald head to bear the cold.

“Now then.”

He walked out onto Shijo Street and stopped. If he continued to the right, he’d reach Ponto-cho. He didn’t have anything in particular to do. Before leaving the office, he figured he’d wander around town and have some drinks. But now, Kiyotaka’s words were firmly ingrained in his mind.

“Well, it’s a way to kill time,” he murmured as an excuse.

He went left—west—on Shijo Street. Upon reaching Teramachi Street, he would go north and find Kura. Aoi would be there, holding a feather duster as usual. His expression relaxed a little as he thought of her. She probably wanted to talk about the exhibition.

“Exhibition?” Ensho murmured to himself with a chuckle. Regardless of how extravagant the Yagashira house was, it was still a private residence. In other words, this was a “pretend exhibition.”

Still... He looked down at the palm of his hand. After spending so much of his life painting forgeries, he never would have dreamed of holding his own exhibition. His career had begun with counterfeits in the first place, when he had started painting in place of his father, who had become an alcoholic and could no longer hold the brush.

Ensho reflected on the past as he walked, and a self-deprecating smile rose to his face. He had continued to create forgeries after his father’s death, and right when he had gotten sick of it all, he remembered the last painting he finished under his father’s name: Mandala of the Womb Realm. The Buddhist world of enlightenment. Wanting to throw himself into it, he had joined a certain temple.

“It was the mandala that got you interested in Buddhism? In that case, you should go to Toji, not here,” the senior priests had said with a laugh.

Mandalas were Kukai’s visual representations of the esoteric Buddhist world. In Kyoto, the temple most associated with Kukai was Toji-in.

“It was just the first thing I got interested in, that’s all,” Ensho had replied. But in reality, he had never learned any of that. All he had done was paint the requested mandala and found it fascinating. He thought Buddhism had the same roots everywhere. Why had he chosen Nanzen-ji Temple, then? Because he had visited various temples and Nanzen-ji had appealed to him. The aqueduct that blended into the temple grounds felt as though it would gently accept his heresy. He had wanted to spend the rest of his life there.

However, his peaceful retired life had come to an end once he learned about Kiyotaka Yagashira. He now understood why he had overreacted back then. It was because Kiyotaka was blessed with good looks, talent, and a healthy environment—a combination of all the things he longed for.

After several clashes, he had decided to take the path of an appraiser. On the surface, he had wanted to stand in the same ring as that man and beat him fair and square.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.