Chapter 116

## Blue Eyes

* Color
* Volume

**Blue Eyes** (青い目, *Aoi me*) is the 116th chapter of the *Golden Kamuy* manga.

## Synopsis

Inkarmat reveals to Asirpa that Noppera-Bou, the man within Abashiri Prison is not actually her father. She described that Asirpa's true father, Wilk was not the kind of man who would kill Ainu people and steal their gold. Inkarmat then recalled the day she first met Wilk, who had just arrived in Hokkaido and that he couldn't speak Japanese with his Ainu language having a Karafuto accent.

Wilk also had the same blue eyes as Asirpa and he was born to a Polish father and a Karafuto Ainu mother. Wilk's former home had once been a territory of Russia until the end of the Russo-Japanese war and Wilk had worked together with the independence group against Russia until he got injured and fled to Otaru. Inkarmat says that she had spent everyday with him and that she had taught him everything he knew about the Ainu culture, which he accepted in earnest despite being a Christian. Asirpa does not believe Inkarmat's words, saying that her father never once mentioned Inkarmat to her and that it was her mother who had taught him everything. Inkarmat then praises her mother for her beauty and that to Wilk, she was seen as only a child and that perhaps she had already been forgotten about, with a tear in her eyes.

In the lodge, Kiroranke tells the other that he hasn't seen Hijikata's group since they separated in Asahikawa and that going off the info that he got from Suzukawa, correctly guessed that Sugimoto's group would be in Kushiro and heard about them from a nearby Ainu kotan. Being affected by the sea otter odor as well, he switched topics and noted just how handsome Sugimoto had become since he last saw him. They begin to praise one another before succumbing to their desires and having a sumo match with each other. As evening fell upon them and the locusts had gone, they put their clothes back on and made a solemn vow to not tell anyone about what had happened.

Meanwhile, Tanigaki was left sleeping on the floor of the lodge when Inkarmat came in and woke him up. She then reveals the true nature of the sea otter meat before stripping herself to make love to Tanigaki. Unbeknownst to them, Cikapasi had been watching them and is horrified by what he had seen, believing their act to be scary. Elsewhere, Asirpa is pondering on Inkarmat's words as she warns her about Kiroranke, who will surely steal the tattooed skins and the gold. She is then approached by Tanigaki and Inkarmat who asks if she spent the night on the beach. They too are approached by Sugimoto's group which includes Kiroranke as well much to Inkarmat's surprise.

Asirpa turns to Kiroranke and asks him if he killed her father, which catches everyone off guard. Inkarmat then pulls out a betting card with fingerprints on it as proof, saying that she got it from the Tomokai Race Track and that Kiroranke's fingerprints matched that taken from a certain place several years ago which was the scene where Asirpa's father was murdered. Asirpa begins to question Kiroranke and his words while Kiroranke says that if he truly is the criminal, then just who is Noppera-Bou. Inkarmat says that Kiroranke had wanted to use the gold to fund independence in the Russian far east and suggested that Noppera-Bou might be one of his allies.

Ogata then pulls out his rifle against Inkarmat, saying that she had been in contact with Tsurumi. When Tanigaki tried to defend her, Ogata reveals that Tsurumi is the one who recovered the artifacts at the murder scene, meaning that he is the only person with the fingerprint records. Tanigaki is shocked to hear this but Inkarmat says that she was only just using Tsurumi. Kiroranke claims that there is no way his fingerprints could've matched and asks if they are really going to believe Tsurumi's information, which may just be a ruse to get them to kill each other.

Shiraishi is confused about what is going on and Ogata asks him what Noppera-Bou was like since he is the only person among them to have met him. Sugimoto asks if Noppera-Bou really did have blue eyes, but Shiraishi says that he never got a good look at his face and that Hijikata had only mentioned it. He also doubted that any of the other prisoners ever spoke directly Noppera-Bou who just silently placed the tattoo on their skins. He then revealed that the entire prison break scheme was only passed through to them by Hijikata himself. Sugimoto's group then wonder if the true mastermind behind everything was Hijikata as Tsurumi informs Tsukishima of a telegram that Tanigaki sent which revealed that he had crossed paths with Sugimoto. Tsurumi then prepares the 7th Division to head out to Abashiri Prison.

## Character Appearances

* Asirpa
* Inkarmat
* Noppera-Bou *(Flashback)*
* Wilk *(Flashback)*
* Saichi Sugimoto
* Kiroranke
* Yoshitake Shiraishi
* Genjirou Tanigaki
* Hyakunosuke Ogata
* Tetsuzou Nihei *(Flashback)*
* Cikapasi
* Toshizou Hijikata
* Tsukishima
* Tsurumi