Chapter 284

## Our Kamuy

**Our Kamuy** (私たちのカムイ, *Watashitachi no Kamui*) is the 284th chapter of the *Golden Kamuy* manga.

## Synopsis

Hijikata talks about the Battle of Hakodate, explaining that Fort Goryokaku's walls weren't truly complete as what they lacked but desperately needed were a great number of redoubts and speculates that the battle would have gone differently if they had redoubts at the time. Meanwhile, Sugimoto's Group continues to dig in the storehouse as Shiraishi wonders if the "god" tattoo truly has some kind of special meaning. Sugimoto is uncertain but notes that none of the other tattooed skins have any kanji that could be read as "shin" or "jin".

Around 3:30 in the morning, as Asirpa is digging, she hits something solid, catching the attention of Sugimoto and Shiraishi who jump in and begin to furiously dig until they uncover a wooden box. Sugimoto's Group, Hijikata's Group, and Sofia gather around the box and open it to find it filled with crumbled-up diatomaceous earth. Shiraishi scoops out some of the dirt and finds some container buried within the box, which Asirpa identifies as an animal stomach that is being used to preserve things like oil. Sugimoto notes that the Ainu took special care to make sure that the contents of the bag was waterproof but asks why they could not hide the box at the bottom of a moat.

Asirpa finds a book in the bag and gives it to Nagakura to read, as they find out that the book contains a land deed. In the past, Kimuspu explains that around the time the deal with the Russians was ending in failure, a government called the Republic of Ezo was formed in Hakodate and they were having difficulty procuring funds. The Ainu made a deal with a representative named Takeaki Enomoto to create a contract to buy the rights to vast tracts of land all over Hokkaido that had yet to be developed. Upon hearing of this, Sugimoto begins to grow suspicious of Hijikata, asking if he did not know about such a deal.

Hijikata responds that he had no idea either as judging by the date on the contract, he was off fighting in Futamataguchi while Enomoto was in Goryokaku, and after that they were dealing with a full-on assault by the government forces so they had other things to worry about.

Kimuspu tells the Ainu that right before they were about to hand the gold over to the Republic of Ezo, it disappeared. Despite that, Enomoto worked within the Meiji government to ensure that their contract was carried over to them and, since the government was in need of funds, they accepted the contract.

However, Kimuspu believed that after the government had received the gold, they could have acted like their contract had never existed. To make sure that the contract was fulfilled, Enomoto invited ambassadors from several countries to be present at the occasion when the contract was carried over to the new government. Kimuspu wonders about Enomoto's intentions while revealing that the contract states "how the land is to be used will be left to the discretion of its owner", which would make it a very inconvenient document for the government. Sugimoto asks if the Meiji government is even obligated to honour a contract made by the Republic of Ezo in the first place, but Nagakura tells him that there would be precedent with the Gaertner incident.

Nagakura goes on to explain that gaining the Republic of Ezo's assets would also mean that the Meiji government would have to take on their liabilities as well and that unilaterally deciding to tear up a contract signed by a country would be an act certain to lose the trust of every other nations. Shiraishi butts in, nervously asking if the Ainu really paid all of the gold to the government, and Asirpa says that the Ainu must have thought that the only way left to use the gold was to buy up all of the forested land. The Ainu men believed it was a way to protect the Ainu without having to fight, by protecting the forests, which would allow the *kamuy* to remain, as they are a fundamental part of the Ainu culture.

Asirpa beams as she finally realizes what she should do for the sake of the Ainu since it was something already accomplished by the Ainu of the past and declares that the golden *kamuy* that was said to bring disaster has been replaced with a *kamuy* that they truly needed. Upon hearing of the Ainu's intentions, everyone except for Asirpa suddenly collapses to the ground in disappointment. Sugimoto then questions why Wilk has hidden the land deed in the storehouse in the first place as he would have been better off bringing the deed back with him.

Asirpa believes that her father may have hidden the deed because someone was after it, and Sugimoto brings up Kiroranke. However, Asirpa says that even if Kiroranke had stolen the deed, it would not have been of any use to him either. Nagakura informs everyone that they have about two hours left before the time they estimate Tsurumi's arrival and that since they no longer have any reason to remain, they should leave immediately. As everyone prepares to leave, Hijikata reads the deed once more and finds that the Ainu only used half of the gold to purchase the land so there should still be about 10,000 kan of gold left. Just then, Tsurumi fires upon Fort Goryokaku with a loud and hearty "good morning" announcement.

## Character Appearances

* Toshizou Hijikata
* Shinpachi Nagakura
* Sofia Golden Hand
* Yoshitake Shiraishi
* Saichi Sugimoto
* Asirpa
* Tatsuma Ushiyama
* Toshiyuki Kadokura
* Kirawus
* Kantarou Okuyama
* Anji Toni
* Wilk *(Flashback)*
* Kimuspu *(Flashback)*
* Mesira *(Flashback)*
* Irenka *(Flashback)*
* Ratci *(Flashback)*
* Takeaki Enomoto *(Flashback)* *(Mentioned)*
* Tokushirou Tsurumi