Chapter 8

## Flight

* Color
* Volume

**Flight** (逃走, *Tōsō*) is the 8th chapter of the *Golden Kamuy* manga.

## Synopsis

Asirpa and Sugimoto catch a hare in the forest. Asirpa explains that hares are called *isepo* in Ainu, which means "small creatures that cry 'iii'". She suggests they make *citatap* out of the hare meat and tells Sugimoto an Ainu legend of how hares got their black tips on their ears. Long ago, the deer once had legs like the hare has now. However, the deer was tricked into trading his legs with those of the hare's; when the deer realized he was deceived, he threw a burning brand at the hare, hitting its ears. Sugimoto notes how the hare would be perfectly camouflaged were it not for its black tips, and now it doesn't matter how fast it can run as one can spot it easily in the snow. Sugimoto concludes that the moral of the story is,

Asirpa offers Sugimoto a hare's eyeball, saying the man who catches the rabbit gets to eat the eyes. Sugimoto reluctantly eats the eyeball, much to Asirpa's entertainment. Asirpa cooks *citatap* and adds Ezo matsutake and oshiroi shimeji mushrooms, as well as *pukusa* (Alpine leeks) for the flavor. Sugimoto greatly enjoys the meal but he wants to add miso to enhance the flavor. When he takes out his tin with miso, Asirpa screams in disgust, assuming it's not food but actually *osoma*, or poop. Sugimoto offers her to try miso, but Asirpa refuses, believing Sugimoto is trying to feed her poop.

Next day, Asirpa and Sugimoto are walking through the forest; Asirpa explains how to find a brown bear's den. She points at an uprooted tree and says there's a cave hollowed out beneath the roots of the fallen tree. Asirpa asks Sugimoto to take a look at the tree and check for the signs of a bear living there such as icicles at the mouth of the cave and an odd, earthly smell inside. However, he should be careful, as the bear is not hibernating but just drowsy and can charge out if woken up. Sugimoto walks to a cave and examines it, noticing icicles and kuma bamboo grass laid on the floor. He asks Asirpa if they should catch the bear and how should they do it. Asirpa explains that they need to use stakes to fence up the entrance; once the bear comes to investigate it, one shoots a poisoned arrow through the stakes. She then reveals that her father was so brave that he would crawl inside the bear's den with a poison arrow in hand and kill the bear by himself. Asirpa claims there's an Ainu saying that goes: a brown bear will never kill a human that enters its den. Sugimoto is not interested in hunting more bears so he suggests they should get going.

Meanwhile, four 7th Division soldiers are seen near the hut that Asirpa and Sugimoto used before. They deduce that the hut was used recently and notice prints from a man's boots and a child's deerskin shoes. The oldest soldier doubts that a hunter and his child would attack and defeat a capable man like Superior Private Ogata. It's revealed that Ogata managed to regain consciousness for a short time; however, he wasn't able to say anything since his jaw was broken. Instead, he wrote a single word with his finger — "Immortal". One of the soldiers wonders if Ogata was trying to brag about being immortal, but the older soldier doesn't believe it, thinking he wouldn't use all of his remaining strength just to brag or joke.

As Asirpa and Sugimoto walk through the woods, Asirpa notices something flashing in the distance from the place where they stayed last night. Sugimoto realizes it's binoculars; he grabs Asirpa and starts running. A 7th Division soldier, who is watching the two through binoculars, reports to others that he has found Ogata's attackers. The soldiers then chase after Sugimoto and Asirpa using skis.

## Character Appearances

* Asirpa
* Saichi Sugimoto
* Wilk *(Mentioned)* *(Flashback)*
* Genjirou Tanigaki *(Debut)*
* Naoaki Noma *(Debut)*
* Fumio Okada *(Debut)*
* Houzou Tamai *(Debut)*
* Hyakunosuke Ogata *(Mentioned)*

## Anime Episode

* Episode 3
* Golden Douga Gekijou: Hare Episode