Chapter 279

## I Get The Credit For That One

**I Get The Credit For That One**, or **My Accomplishment** (俺の手柄, *Ore no tegara*) is the 279th chapter of the *Golden Kamuy* manga.

## Synopsis

Sugimoto reveals to Kikuta that Yuusaku had told him that the cap originally belonged to his younger brother who died in the war against China. He asks Kikuta if he blamed himself for the death of his younger brother since he had "VIP seats on the train to hell". Kikuta explains to Sugimoto that he told his brother to join the army since they came from a poor family and would be able to get some food to eat if they were in the army.

Kikuta also states that in war, more people died from illness than in battle and that if he had not convinced his brother, Toujirou, to join the army, then Toujirou would not have died such a painful death, saying that he had basically killed him. Sugimoto declares that while Kikuta was the impetus for him thinking about joining the army, he is the one making the decision in the end and that he would never blame Kikuta for whatever happens to him.

Kikuta is stunned as he sees Toujirou's image in Sugimoto who tells him to forgive himself and move on. Sugimoto continues, saying that he is not likely to die as he is immortal and Kikuta gives in, telling Sugimoto that he can hold onto the cap. As Kikuta begins to walk away, Sugimoto tells him to talk to Yuusaku about what happened with Kaneko and that he still has a choice to make.

Kikuta states that the incident involving Yuusaku has become a problem for the whole army and that if he told Yuusaku about Kaneko, then he would no longer be in the army and warns Sugimoto to stay away from Yuusaku and to forget about the whole ordeal. Kikuta says that if they were to meet again in the army, even though they would be starting things over from scratch, he is certain that they would get along before saying his farewells to Sugimoto.

At the 1st Division headquarters, Okuda announces to Kikuta that he will be transferring him to the 7th Division to keep an eye on Tsurumi to make sure he is not running out of control and to report his moves to Central. Kikuta glances over at Ogata, asking about him, and Okuda reveals that he is the same as him, a spy for Central, but they will be working independently in order to avoid losing the both of them at once and to prevent them from getting into each other's way. Several years later in 1904 at 203 Hill, Sugimoto stares solemnly at Yuusaku who had been shot and killed when Yuusaku's eyes suddenly opens up and stares back at him. Sugimoto wakes up from his dream to find Asirpa and Hijikata working together in order to decipher the tattooed code.

Asirpa notes that each skins have a number of different Kanji that share the same reading but the ones that don't fit "Horkew Oskoni" are false leads. She explains that on every tattooed skins, there are at least four Kanji with readings that fits her father's name and shows that if one lays the skins on top of each other, there are places where the spacing between the Kanji matches exactly.

Hijikata notes that Wilk made the deliberate decision to have the code be in Kanji even though he knew his own daughter was not well-versed in the language. He goes on, saying that Wilk did not put the message in Latin or Cyrillic script but in Kanji and wonders if it is a message from Wilk telling Asirpa to cooperate with the Japanese to find the gold. Shiraishi points out another view, that it could be Wilk telling Asirpa to "make use of the Japanese for the Ainu", referencing that she could have easily worked with Tsurumi and his men instead.

At the church, Kikuta is amazed that the vagrant boy he had met from way back then turned out to be the hero from the Russo-Japanese War and wonders how many lives "Sugimoto the Immortal" had saved. Kikuta notes that since he was the impetus for Sugimoto joining the army in the first place, he should get the credit for the war's results. In the train, Sugimoto makes his resolve to fight Kikuta and to not hold back against him the next time they should meet.

Asirpa takes out the coin that Boutarou gave them, explaining that there is an aspect of the design on the coin that looks very similar to that of the tattooed skins. She notes that they both share the design of having single lines which intersect other lines without touching them and wonders if that could have some kind of important meaning. At the church, Tsurumi declares that he has solved the tattooed code, much to the 7th Division's shock. The 7th Division gathers around the skins and Nikaidou exclaims that the battle for the gold is finally going to end, however Tsurumi says that the real battle is only beginning as he takes out a gun and shoots Kikuta twice in the chest.

## Character Appearances

* Saichi Sugimoto
* Mokutarou Kikuta
* Toujirou Kikuta *(Flashback)*
* Hidenobu Okuda *(Flashback)*
* Hyakunosuke Ogata *(Flashback)*
* Yuusaku Hanazawa *(Flashback)*
* Yoshitake Shiraishi
* Asirpa
* Toshiyuki Kadokura
* Tatsuma Ushiyama
* Toshizou Hijikata
* Shinpachi Nagakura
* Wilk *(Mentioned)*
* Fusatarou Oosawa *(Mentioned)*
* Tokushirou Tsurumi
* Hajime Tsukishima
* Otonoshin Koito
* Kouhei Nikaidou