The heavy columns of the Ikoma library give the place a rather different feel from the airy atmosphere of the reading room at Kyuden Kakita, but all places full of books have a similar smell. That familiar element keeps Shinnosuke from feeling too overawed, not that his breezy manner would show it much in any case. His permission from Kitsu Shintaro gets him in the door--although not before he spends a bit of time gossiping with the library clerks and temple priests about the Lion sumai contenders.

However, his actual target today are the library's historical stories and chronicles from two hundred and more years ago--the reign of Hantei Ningi. Obviously, the Ikoma would not preserve anything too shocking or heretical here. He hardly expects to find books on themes like "Resolved: Emperor Ningi Was A Miserable Human Being" or "A Poetic Tale of How an Emperor Became a Villainous Unrestful Spirit."

And yet, perhaps reading between the lines of the official court chronicles will offer him some clues about what sort of person Rokugan's third Emperor had been. Would he find anything at all that might support the theory Hoshiko and Kitsu-sama had formulated, that this really could be the identity of the malign ghost to which they had both spoken?

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D9 MM--Lore:History research. VP! | 5k4 ⇒ 30 (TN: 20) Succeed without Raises for one reseach question.

Also, D9 MM--Asking about Matsu “Hidenoyama” Yasunari in the temple/library | 8k4 ⇒ 27 (TN: 15)

The available texts--and, let's face it, not all of them in the Library might have been made available; there is some talk of young Kamoshita Taro having been so much better at all of this--note that Hantei Ningi is considered to have been the first truly mortal Emperor, the first truly human one, the generational remove from Hantei-no-kami being as it was at that point. The texts report he did issue a number of clarifications of his father's and grandfather's dictates, including that of land ownership and the stratification of society along their current lines.

One source notes that his death was not an easy one; despite having elevated the Fortune Tenjin, he died of a lingering, choking disease. Treatments administered could address his pain and distress, but not the underlying cause, and he wasted away over time.

Ugh. It's not impossible to remain peaceful while passing from such an illness--Shin's grandfather had managed it, mostly, at a respectable age--but it's a hard thing, and not dignified. Reading those spare, economical lines in the chronicles leaves Shin with a pensive expression and a dull unpleasant feeling lingering under his ribcage.

Well, anyway, he'd better make some notes, in case any of this is useful for Yamada-san's investigation. To lighten his mood, he decides to practice writing these in the stylish but tricky 'slender gold' script style, but his heart isn't really in it. Oh well, at least they're legible, basically.

D9 MM--fluff calligraphy | 4k3 ⇒ 10 (TN: 15)