Chapter 268

## A Single Poison Arrow

**A Single Poison Arrow** (一本の毒矢, *Ippon no dokuya*) is the 268th chapter of the *Golden Kamuy* manga.

## Synopsis

Kiroranke writes a letter to Sofia describing Wilk’s last words to him saying that he prays for Asirpa’s happiness. However, he wishes for her to choose the difficult and thorny path of her own will so that she can grasp happiness with her own two hands instead of living somewhere safely without any sort of responsibility, just like Sofia. After hearing about her father, Asirpa says that that was the kind of person Wilk was, that if he was making everyone fight to protect the future of the Ainu, then he would place his own daughter at the forefront of the battle.

Tsurumi agrees, that if Wilk just wanted to protect his family, then he would’ve hidden them somewhere far from the battle. Asirpa says that if that were to happen, then they would forget the Ainu language and the kamuy and as such the Ainu people would disappear. Tsurumi then proceeds to tell Asirpa and Sofia about the miserable end that befell Wilk and the other Ainu who fought so bravely to protect the kamuy. He tells of how the 7th Division met with Siromakur Ariko, the original source of information about Kimuspu.

As the 7th Division sat in Siromakur’s home, watching him carve out a makiri knife, Tsurumi comments on how it is a superb carving and Siromakur reveals that it is a design that has been passed down in his family. He also states that he will send it to his son Rikimatsu Ariko, who is in the army so that he does not forget about the Ainu. Siromakur changes the topic, saying that if the 7th Division are planning to find Kimuspu, then it is too late as he is sure his comrades have found the gold by now as it has been a month since they caught up to him.

Tsurumi asks why Siromakur is not out there with the other Ainu and Siromakur reveals that he could not go along with their way of doing things. Siromakur explains that Kimuspu had refused to tell where the gold was hidden and that it should remain where it was buried, calling it cursed. Some of the short-tempered Ainu then began to threaten him, saying that if he does not tell where the gold was, then they would harm his grandson and his younger brother in Hokkaido. Siromakur claims to be disgusted with their behaviour and so came back home by himself.

Tsurumi asks if he had at least heard the location of the gold himself then, but Siromakur says he did not as he had left before they could get the information out of Kimuspu. Tsurumi then goes on to praise Siromakur and his son for their efforts in the Mount Hakkoda recovery and that he does not doubt his pride in his son who joined the 7th Division, before declaring that his decision to no longer lend a hand to those who plotted to divide the Ainu and the Japanese was a wise choice.

Siromakur says that he completely understands how his comrades felt, saying that though in his region, they have mostly positive relations with the Japanese, there are other regions who have a deep hatred of them. He also revealed that he’d had hope that there was a way to use the gold without spilling any unnecessary blood. Siromakur states that the other six Ainu in his party are particularly stubborn and does not share deep relationships with one another, only united by their shared extreme idealogy towards the Japanese.

Despite that, there was one man who was able to bring them together with an incredibly deft touch and Siromakur began to share a story about how the Ainu started to argue over their regional differences. As they were about to fight each other, Wilk spoke up and explained about how the Ainu in each regions have their own way of doing things and that even the Japanese would do, and the other Ainu became impressed with his knowledge. Wilk explained that discrimination is born from ignorance and that at the very least, the Ainu should understand each other and come together as one.

Siromakur exclaims that everyone within their party acknowledged and trusted him, saying that there has never been anyone who could bring together and lead the Ainu from all the different regions. Tsurumi asks Siromakur what village he came from, however the latter is unsure of it but knows that he is an Ainu from the Karafuto region. Tsurumi asks what his name was and Siromakur says that everyone called him Wilk and that he has blue eyes with a scar on his face. Upon hearing the description, Tsurumi is shocked to hear about Wilk and silently muses that Wilk has become involved with his life again.

Tsurumi tells Asirpa and Sofia that he had shot a single poisoned arrow aimed at Wilk, by revealing to Siromakur that Wilk was a guerilla fighting against the Russian empire who had come to Hokkaido in search of resources to fund revolutionary activities in Russia. The 7th Division waited outside for a short while before spotting Siromakur rushing out in panic. Tsurumi figured that Siromakur had lied about not knowing the location of the gold as he was heading towards the other Ainu to tell them of Wilk’s true identity and so the 7th Division began to follow him into the forest.

Despite initially losing Siromakur, they hear gunfire off in the distance and managed to find one of the Ainu men, Ratci, lying and bleeding on the ground with a makiri knife in his stomach. Tsurumi asks Ratci if Wilk had attacked him, but he denies it saying that Wilk did not do anything and that everyone started killing each other. Asirpa is horrified by the revelation as Tsurumi explains that the Ainu were separated into those who wanted to defend Wilk and those who did not want to and as such began to fight and kill each other.

Tsurumi says that it was only thanks to their trust in Wilk that their relationship managed its delicate balance but his poisoned arrow had caused that to crumble. He then begins to talk about Wilk, who had realized that whoever had leaked his past to Siromakur was going to come after him. Usami was the first to discover Wilk’s severed head lying on the ground but Tsurumi reveals that Wilk had cut off his own face, put it on someone else’s head and faked his own death.

## Character Appearances

* Kiroranke *(Flashback)*
* Wilk *(Flashback)*
* Asirpa
* Sofia Golden Hand
* Tokushirou Tsurumi
* Tokishige Usami *(Flashback)*
* Siromakur *(Flashback)*
* Mokutarou Kikuta *(Flashback)*
* Kimuspu *(Flashback)*
* Mesira *(Flashback)*
* Irenka *(Flashback)*
* Cikapasi *(Flashback)*
* Rikimatsu Ariko *(Flashback)* *(Mentioned)*
* Sukuta *(Flashback)*
* Ratci *(Flashback)*
* Oskeporo *(Flashback)*