Chapter 2

## Wen Kamuy

* Color
* Volume
* Magazine

**Wen Kamuy**, or **Wenkamuy** (ウェンカムイ, *Uen Kamui*), is the 2nd chapter of the *Golden Kamuy* manga.

## Synopsis

The Ainu girl tells Sugimoto that when a brown bear kills a human, it is cursed to never be able to eat anything else despite the fact that the mountains are full of other delicious foods. As a result, it no longer fears humans and becomes more violent and dangerous. Such an animal becomes known as a *wen kamuy* (evil god). Sugimoto thinks that it is because the bear must’ve figured out how weak humans really are. The girl tells Sugimoto to hurry up and gather more firewood so that the bonfire won’t burn out since they cannot fight the bear in the dark. They must wait until dawn breaks so that they can gain the advantage over it in a fight.

Sugimoto and the girl start gathering *sitat*, bark from white birch trees, which is full of oil which will burn for a long time and can work well as a torch. As Sugimoto comments on how much time they have left before sunrise, the brown bear walks to the campfire and the drunken man’s corpse. The bear roars and tosses the firewood Sugimoto was carrying with its paw. Shocked, Sugimoto screams, alerting the Ainu girl, and then attempts to punch the bear, which has no effect at all. The girl tells him to get beneath the bear and grab onto its belly as she pulls out an arrow to shoot at it. Since their campfire was destroyed, the girl can't see the bear in the dark. Hearing Sugimoto struggle, the girl thinks the bear probably got him. However, Sugimoto yells and asks her to not shoot, surprising the Ainu girl. The girl warns Sugimoto that she will take the risky shot, but, as her arrow reaches the bear, Sugimoto pulls out his army knife and stabs the bear. This causes the bear to flinch and to turn another way. The arrow the girl shot deflects off the bear's skull.

As the moon has appeared in the sky, the bear notices the girl and charges at her, knocking her aside and making Sugimoto fall off it too. The girl quickly gets up and draws her knife as the bear roars at her. Suddenly, a white wolf jumps out and attacks the bear. The girl reaches out her hand and calls the wolf by its name, Retar. She then instructs Sugimoto to aim for the bear’s heart, which is right under its armpit. Sugimoto takes aim and shoots the bear. The bear then stands up on its hind legs and readies to attack Sugimoto.

On the ground, Sugimoto points his bayonet against the bear and, as the beast falls down on him, the bayonet pierces its heart and kills it. The Ainu girl walks closer to the bear and asks if *sisam* is still alive. Sugimoto confirms he is still alive, and the girl tells him about Ainu ways of hunting bears with the use of the spear and the bear's own weight. She is impressed by Sugimoto’s bravery and tactics, but he says he only did it on instinct and had no previous knowledge of such methods. Sugimoto asks the girl to help him get up, and the girl holds out her hand to him. Sugimoto introduces himself to the girl who reveals that her name is Asirpa.

Sugimoto looks around, searching for the white dog he saw earlier. Asirpa corrects him, saying Retar is actually a wolf. She points at a hill, where Retar is seen howling on the moon.

Once they set another fire, Asirpa starts cutting up the bear. She tells Sugimoto about how five years ago, her father and six other Ainu men were killed while moving the gold to another hiding place. Their corpses were hacked to pieces and wild animals found them and scattered the remains. However, Asirpa and her village didn't know the murderer had been caught and thrown into Abashiri Prison; they didn't know about the tattooed prisoners either. Sugimoto suggests that he and Asirpa should team up and find the gold, but Asirpa is skeptical about how they’re going to do that. She says that whoever tattooed those men was basically asking for them to be killed and skinned.

Asirpa finishes cutting up the bear and hands Sugimoto its gall bladder, which he can dry and sell for a lot of money. Sugimoto asks why won't she take a half, since they both killed that bear. Asirpa explains that the Ainu don't eat bears that ate humans, since a bear that does evil things and becomes an evil god is sent to a hell called *teine pokna mosir*.

Asirpa is adamant about not wanting to kill people, and Sugimoto thinks to himself they will be rolling out a red carpet for him in hell for killing so many people.

Sugimoto explains that the gold is probably still not found and her father’s killer must be still alive in prison. He then takes out his bayonet and skins the drunken man's corpse's torso. Sugimoto asks Asirpa if she helped him because she realized she can find the gold and have her revenge for her father's death. He promises he’ll be the one doing all the dirty work while she provides her knowledge to him. Sugimoto believes that, despite their different goals, if they work together, they can be an unstoppable force.

## Character Appearances

* Saichi Sugimoto
* Asirpa
* Drunken Man
* Retar *(Debut)*
* Asirpa's Father *(Mentioned)*