Chapter 22

## Legendary Bear-Killer

* Color
* Volume

**Legendary Bear-Killer**, or **The Legendary Bear Hunter** (伝説の熊撃ち, *Densetsu no kumauchi*) is the 22nd chapter of the *Golden Kamuy* manga.

## Synopsis

Asirpa and Sugimoto continue through the snowy forest, searching for deer. Asirpa tells Sugimoto to hurry, but Sugimoto is exhausted because his feet keep getting stuck in the thick layers of snow. Asirpa suggests they take a short break and chew *hupca* (needles of a Sakhalin fir) for energy boost. Sugimoto finds *hupca* quite bitter, and Asirpa makes fun of him for being a *sisam* with delicate test buds. However, when Asirpa chews the needles herself, her expression reveals she also finds the taste unpleasant. After trying to chew *hupca*, Sugimoto is thirsty. He asks Asirpa for some water, but the girl drinks all the remaining water they have, refusing to give Sugimoto any. Sugimoto considers eating snow, but Asirpa stops him, warning that he will get cold. Instead, she suggests they cut the Hardy kiwi vines to drink its sap.

When the two quench their thirst, Asirpa explains that Hardy kiwi vines can be used for other purposes; for example, it can be used to making snowshoes like hers. Asirpa crafts a makeshift pair of snowshoes from the vines for Sugimoto, so they can continue travelling the forest in comfort.

Asirpa notices traces left by the deer, notably the bamboo grass dug out from the snow and a deer rub on a tree trunk. Asirpa takes out her *sutu* and rubs it against the tree bark, making a sound so the deer would come back to investigate. She explains that deer are an essential part of the Ainu way of life and that they're used for many things, like making shoes or crafting arrow footings, *makanit*. Asirpa retells Sugimoto an old Ainu legend that she learned from Huci. In the old days, there were more deer than there are now. So many, that people went hunting after they put their pot on the fire to start cooking. Unlike the *kimun kamuy* (bear) or *horkew kamuy* (wolf), the Ainu do not call deer *kamuy*. Instead, they're called *yuk*, which means "prey". The Ainu believe that the god who rules over the deer spread *yuk* all over the land so that humans would have something to eat. But one winter, the snow was so deep that the deer couldn't dig deep enough to reach the grass. A great number of deer died, which in its turn caused the wolves that hunted them to follow the same fate. Asirpa thinks that people didn't have proper respect for the deer that the gods sent to them, so the gods refused to send any more.

As Asirpa finishes her tale, a deer appears nearby. Sugimoto is surprised that the deer came back and tries to slowly load his gun. However, the sound alerts the deer and it runs away. Sugimoto attempts to shoot it but misses, grazing it instead. Asirpa and Sugimoto follow the deer's tracks, and Asirpa finds drops of the animal's blood on the bamboo grass. Sugimoto is worried about his missing shot, blaming himself for leaving the deer in agony instead of killing it quickly. Meanwhile, Asirpa sees tracks that belong to a dog and two men. Upon examining the tracks, she realizes that one of those man must be Genjirou Tanigaki.

Someplace else in the forest, a man with his dog is talking to Tanigaki. He claims that the bears Tanigaki hunted as Matagi are merely cubs compared to those they have in Hokkaido. The man says that his dog is of the breed that the Ainu have trained to be fearless when going up against bears. Tanigaki makes note of the Murata rifle the man is using, saying his Matagi father would also use one for hunting. The rifle is one-shot, which is not useful. Tanigaki claims that using a rifle like that isn't a personal preference but simply ignoring the march of progress. The man scoffs at that but remarks that Tanigaki's rifle can hold five rounds and so it must be mighty useful.

The man's dog, Ryu, rushes to the bear that is sleeping its den. The man commands Tanigaki to stand out of the fight, as its the duel between him and the bear. Tanigaki wonders if the man has prepared other rounds since hunters that use the Murata rifle always hold spare rounds between their fingers to quickly reload the gun. The man retorts, saying that having five rounds gives you an illusion of having five chances, which is wrong. The bear comes out of its den and approaches the hunter, standing on its hind legs. The hunter successfully shoots the bear, and Tanigaki reveals that in his hometown he once heard stories about legendary bear-killer from Hokkaido. Tanigaki concludes that the man's name is Tetsuzou Nihei, and that the man in front of him is in fact the legendary hunter.

Nihei asks Tanigaki how long he is going to tag along with him, teasing the young man that he didn't rescue him because he wanted a new lover. Tanigaki replies that he isn't in the mood for jokes and that he knows that Nihei is after the same thing as he is: the white wolf.

## Character Appearances

* Asirpa
* Saichi Sugimoto
* Huci *(Flashback)*
* Genjirou Tanigaki
* Tetsuzou Nihei *(Debut)*
* Ryu *(Debut)*

## Trivia

* Nihei's dog, Ryu, is a Hokkaido dog, also known as the Ainu dog or Seta. The breed is known for fidelity to its owner, bravery, and the ability to withstand the cold, among other traits. They have an unusual fighting style against the Hokkaido brown bear and will take risks to protect its master, despite size differences. The way in which the Ainu dog accomplishes this is to attack the bear's back, then bite and hold the dorsal flesh of the bear's neck until the bear retreats.