Holmes Of Kyoto Volume 15 – Mai Mochizuki (1)

“Tudor?” Akihito asked, pursing his lips and tilting his head. “It was named after the king at the time, Henry Tudor. The low-relief roses are one of its characteristic features. This design was created by Henry VII after the Wars of the Roses by combining the House of Lancaster’s red rose emblem and the House of York’s white rose emblem.” “Huh? The Wars of the Roses? What’re those?” Fuyuki facepalmed. “Aren’t you supposed to be a student?

What have you even been studying?” “Everything besides that, I guess.” “Idiot.” Fuyuki sighed. “The Wars of the Roses were a series of civil wars fought between the House of Lancaster and the House of York in the fifteenth century,” Kiyotaka explained. “They were called that because Lancaster’s emblem was a red rose and York’s was a white one. Quite a lot happened, but in the end, it was Henry Tudor who settled things once and for all.

Afterwards, he combined the two houses’ rose emblems to make the Tudor family crest. The resulting design is called the Tudor rose.” “Ooooh.” Akihito’s eyes lit up. “H-Hey, what was the ‘quite a lot’ that happened?” “There was a lot of drama. I’ll lend you a book next time.” “Thanks!” Akihito nodded. Fuyuki gaped as he looked at his brother.

“Is something the matter, Fuyuki?” Kiyotaka asked. “No. It’s just that I think you’d make a good tutor.” “Oh, not at all.” Kiyotaka smiled. “It was Ichiro Hanayashiki who built this house, so maybe he liked the Tudor style,” Akihito said, looking around the building as he walked. “Indeed. When I look at this mansion, I can sense an admiration for and fixation on beauty and nobility.” “Fixation, huh? I heard he did whatever it took to rise up in the world,” Akihito murmured.

Fuyuki held his index finger in front of his mouth, taken aback. “There’s no point talking about that now.” Everyone knew about Ichiro Hanayashiki’s bad reputation. He had made his fortune by treating people of low status like slaves. Many complained that he had tricked them, betrayed them, or wrung them for all they were worth.

His violent side was particularly reprehensible. Perhaps he could have been called a sadist. He would buy poor people for money and beat and kick them. Not satisfied with just that, he allowed others to also beat them as much as they liked as long as they paid up, or so the rumors went. As his only daughter, Hanako had inherited his violent tendencies. One day, when she was still young, a man had seen her at a party and mocked her for being a gaudy woman.

Hanako had overheard him and flown into a rage. She’d told a servant to bring her a horse whip and hit the man with it, forcing him to grovel on his knees. This influence seemed to extend to Ichiro’s grandson, Kikuo, as well.

Under the guidance of Kiyotaka Yagashira, skilled counterfeiter-turned- painter Ensho (real name Shinya Sugawara) had quickly gained recognition from one of the wealthiest men in the world. Ensho’s brilliance was awe- inspiring, but it went without saying that Kiyotaka was also incredible. Despite calling himself an apprentice, he was an excellent appraiser with an exceptional eye for observation and discernment. His accomplishments were already well-known around the world. “Ensho and the kiddo really are amazing.” Katsuya Komatsu, head of the Komatsu Detective Agency, chuckled and looked up.

He couldn’t believe that such great people had been working at his tiny office, even if it had only been a temporary arrangement. “Didn’t I tell you not to use my mug?” “Pfft, it’s just a mug. Who cares? You’re such a stingy guy.” “Is that really how you should be talking after using someone’s property without permission?” “Whaddya mean, ‘someone’s property’? There’s no ownership in a shared kitchen.”

“Oh, so that’s how you see it. In that case, let’s say you bought your favorite sweets and put them in the fridge so you could eat them during your break. If I were to eat them without checking with you first, you wouldn’t complain, would you?” “Nah. I ain’t interested in sweets.” “What if it was crème caramel?” Silence. “No snarky response, I see. I’m sure it’s true that you aren’t interested in sweets in general, but crème caramel is different. Could it be that you have a special attachment to it?”

“Seriously, shut up. Why do I have to put up with this just ’cause I used a damn mug?” “When I brought it in this morning, I said, ‘This mug is special to me, so please don’t use it.’ If I’m not mistaken, you nodded and said, ‘Yeah, yeah.’” “I don’t recall that. What’s so good about this ceramic cup, anyway? It looks like an amateur made it.

I like this deep indigo color, though. It must’ve been really expensive if you’re using it, eh?” “Aoi made that mug for me.” “Oh…so that’s why. All right, my bad. You can have it back right now if you want. I already put my mouth on it, though.” “Thank you.” “Wait, you didn’t even hesitate to take it. I said I put my mouth on it.” “I’ll wash it thoroughly.” “You’re seriously ridiculous.” “Say whatever you like.”

“This is stupid.” It really is stupid. Komatsu grimaced as he listened to the pointless bickering taking place within the walls of his modestly sized office. Then he stood up with a start. “Wait, why are you guys still here?!” “Why do you ask?” Kiyotaka asked, tilting his head. Ensho silently rested his chin on his hand.

After returning from Shanghai, all of the stress, excitement, and fatigue had caught up to Komatsu at once.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: 2b0977f4bc2dd52e
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 8,706,310 bytes (8.303 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• Pages: 157
• Language: English (en)

Reading & Word Statistics

• Estimated Reading Time: 229.39 minutes
• Total Words: 45,878
• Total Characters: 261,002
• Average Words per Page: 292.22
• Average Characters per Page: 1662.43

Most Frequent Words

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