Chapter 287

## Kadokura's Horse

**Kadokura's Horse** (門倉の馬, *Kadokura no uma*) is the 287th chapter of the *Golden Kamuy* manga.

## Synopsis

Kadokura, Kirawus, and Mansur leaves Fort Goryokaku to carry out their plan while Kirawus expresses concerns about getting shot at by the 7th Division. However, Kadokura explains that since Nagakura got caught at the windbreak of trees straight across from the bridge, they should be safer if they head towards a direction that does not have a bridge and that once they go through the windbreak, they should gallop ahead at full speed. Just then, Kadokura finally notices the objects flying around him, thinking that they are flies but Kirawus, who had been in disbelief the whole time, frantically tells him that they are not flies.

Upon leaving the fort and entering town, the three men observes the soldiers who came in on the steam locomotive and Kadokura notes that that if they had been even a little slower to leave Fort Goryokaku, the 7th Division would have the fort completely surrounded. They continue to ride around town until they spot Nagakura and they confirm that he was the one responsible for stopping the bombardment. Nagakura says that he does not know if the 7th Division will continue to use the cannons but states that he was able to at least plant a "seed" of doubt in Tsurumi's mind that will make him hesitate before he launches any large-scale attack.

Koito, Tsukishima, and Nikaidou presents Tsurumi with a gift of Onuma Dango and as Tsurumi eats it, Tsukishima questions if he believes Nagakura about the land deed, which Nikaidou calls a bluff. Tsurumi states that they can't be certain of the info and notes the amount of money that the Meiji government would need in order to fund several large-scale projects all over several big cities including borrowing an enormous amount of money from England in order to finance the war with Russia. Tsukishima believes that 1st Division's commander Okuda knew about the land deed and used the Ainu gold as bait so that he could use the 7th Division to destroy the Ainu contract. Tsurumi then declares that he will see whether the deed exists or not with his own two eyes and that they will give Hijikata the fight that he wants by preparing a siege on Fort Goryokaku.

Within the grounds of the fort, Hijikata tells everyone to dig at a certain spot since it corresponds with a single important character on Kadokura's tattoo, which he had forgotten about himself since it was from so long ago. As Sugimoto's Group and Hijikata's Group digs, they come upon a ground cover and opens it up to find that it is a well for horses. Hijikata recalls the "horse" character on Kadokura's tattoo, reminiscing that he used to take care of the horses in Fort Goryokaku and that he is the only person alive who knows about the well. Shiraishi tries to jump into the well but Ushiyama stops him, saying it is dangerous to just leap into the well. Sugimoto turns to Asirpa, saying that they should go down the well together and she agrees, hence the two of them slides down on a rope to examine the contents of the well.

Inside the well, they discover numerous leather bags at the bottom of the well and Sugimoto ties one of the bags to the rope so that everyone can check the contents together. However, Shiraishi becomes too excited and jumps down the well and attempts to grab the bag but misses and falls to the bottom of the well, causing Sugimoto to snap at him. Shiraishi's swipe at the bag causes it to rip, pouring out gold into the well and everyone looks on in shock and relief as they have finally come to the end of their journey. Sugimoto turns to Asirpa and with a big grin, exclaims that they were able to find the gold while Asirpa looks silently back at him with a faint smile on her face.

## Character Appearances

* Kirawus
* Toshiyuki Kadokura
* Mansur
* Shinpachi Nagakura
* Tokushirou Tsurumi
* Otonoshin Koito
* Hajime Tsukishima
* Kouhei Nikaidou
* Hidenobu Okuda *(Mentioned)*
* Tatsuma Ushiyama
* Anji Toni
* Toshizou Hijikata
* Asirpa
* Saichi Sugimoto
* Yoshitake Shiraishi

## Trivia

* The panel of Sugimoto, Asirpa, Shiraishi, Hijikata, Ushiyama, and Toni looking into the well is a homage to the cover poster of the movie Holes. In the movie, the characters dig holes in the desert to find hidden treasure.