Chapter 247

## Rule

**Rule**, or **The Pattern** (決まり事, *Kimarigoto*) is the 247th chapter of the *Golden Kamuy* manga.

## Synopsis

As Asirpa examines the tattooed skins, she notes that there was a certain “rule” that the skins all followed. Asirpa thinks about the skins that Tsurumi had taken were from before she remembered her father’s name so she did not have an opportunity to check them, but does remember that she was able to confirm that the skins belonging to Shiraishi, Heita, Boutarou, and Gansoku all properly followed the rule as well.

Asirpa turns to Hijikata, asking him which skin is the one from Edogai’s store, exclaiming that there is a high chance that it may be fake. When Hijikata points it out to Asirpa, she is able to confirm that the skin does not follow the rule and asks about two more skins. Hijikata states that they are real since he had skinned Sekiya and Youchirou himself. Asirpa then goes over the other skins as well before coming upon a skin that Ogata had found in a gambling hall at Barato. Asipra is suspicious since Ogata was the one who found it and asks Hijikata if he knew the owner of the skin, which he denies.

Hijikata reveals that Noppera-Bou was constantly moved from cells to cells, and everytime it happened, he would tattoo the convicts in each one of the cells and that since Inudou was after the gold, he kept kept quiet and let it happened. Asirpa examines the skin once more and despite being hesitant, confirms that the skin follows the rule as well. She points to another skin, asking about it and Hijikata divulges that Kantarou had gotten it at an oil seller’s shop and despite no one seeing it being skinned, Hijikata believes that the skin is real as Tsurumi was also after it.

Asirpa notes that the skin does not follow the rule and she asks about the reading of a kanji on it. Hijikata tells her the meaning and his reason for believing that the skins from Barato and the oil seller are real, citing the number of fake skins made by Edogai which were then stolen from Tsurumi by Ariko. Hijikata corrects himself, saying that Tsurumi had let Ariko take the fake skins so that they would end up in their hands. Asirpa asks him if he truly believe that they are all fake, which Hijikata says he does and she notes that three of the five skins do not follow the rule, but the other two does.

Asirpa begins to doubt herself and wonders if her father’s name is not the key that solves the tattoo code. Hijikata confronts Asirpa about her knowing the key that will solve the code but she stays silent about it. He then pressures her to tell him the key but Asirpa says that she does not know, noting that unless they get all of the skins, she cannot be certain and that even if they do, they have no means of telling the counterfeit skins from the real ones, making it impossible to solving the code.

As Tsurumi leads the 7th Division to Sapporo, he muses that among the five skins he allowed Ariko to take, he had mixed in some real skins with the intent to hinder any attempts to solving the code. Meanwhile, outside of the temple, Shiraishi wonders where Vasily is and Sugimoto says he must be hiding somewhere, saying that he will be able to fend off Ogata if he draws near them. Sugimoto’s Group and Hijikata’s Group gets together for a drinking party and talks about their dreams in a drunken stupor.

Asirpa approaches Ariko, saying that she had heard that his father was one of the seven Ainu men who were killed at Tomakomai and Ariko states that he did not know about his father’s true nature, saying that he was a gentle man who never spoke much. Asirpa talks about her own father, saying that she believes that he did not kill the other Ainu as he was concerned about the future of the Ainu and that they will eventually find out about their fathers as they continue to look for the buried gold. Asirpa shows Ariko the coin that Boutarou had given her and he praises her for being strong.

Nagakura shows up, becoming angry that everyone is staying up late fooling around and that they need to prepare to search for the Sapporo Killer but Sugimoto in a drunken state throws a bag at him, telling him to shut up. Elsewhere in Sapporo, Usami continues to masturbate before lamenting that he has not found a single hint about the Sapporo Killer and that Tsurumi will scold him since he will be in Sapporo soon. Unbeknownst to him, Ishikawa had been hiding nearby and he notes what Usami said in his notebook before wondering where the next crime scene was, unaware that Usami is also spying on him.

## Character Appearances

* Toshizou Hijikata
* Kano Ienaga *(cover)*
* Youichirou *(cover)*
* Waichirou Sekiya *(cover)*
* Tatsuma Ushiyama
* Anji Toni
* Yoshitake Shiraishi
* Kiyohiro Suzukawa *(cover)*
* Asirpa
* Fusatarou Oosawa
* Heita Matsuda *(cover)*
* Saichi Sugimoto
* Maiharu Gansoku *(Flashback)*
* Genjirou Tanigaki *(Flashback)*
* Otonoshin Koito *(Flashback)*
* Hajime Tsukishima *(Flashback)*
* Hyakunosuke Ogata *(Flashback)*
* Shirosuke Inudou *(Flashback)*
* Kantarou
* Tokushirou Tsurumi
* Rikimatsu Ariko
* Kadokura
* Kirawus
* Shinpachi Nagakura
* Tokishige Usami
* Takuboku Ishikawa