Chapter 244

## Landing in Otaru

**Landing in Otaru**, or **Landing at Otaru**  (小樽上陸, *Otaru Jōriku*) is the 244th chapter of the *Golden Kamuy* manga.

## Synopsis

Sometime after the Akou outbreak in a Russian village, Sofia asks Svetlana and Gansoku about Asirpa, and they reveal that she has gone back to Japan to see her grandmother who lives in Otaru. In the present time, Sofia and her men arrives in Otaru and make preparations to find Asirpa. One of Sofia's men notifies her that another man has collapsed. Believing it to be beriberi along with a scurvy epidemic, Sofia declares that she will find a doctor.

Elsewhere in Otaru, Tsukishima and Koito play a game of menko, which Tsukishima wins, much to Koito's frustration. Tsukishima feels a murderous aura coming from behind him and looks around to see Sofia staring at them. As Sofia walks away, Tsukishima and Koito do not recognize her her, but Tsukishima believes her to be an extremely dangerous person, warning Koito to be careful. Sofia, however, recognizes the two men as Kiroranke's killers but manages to control her wrath in order to find Asirpa.

Tsukishima tells Koito that Tsurumi has ordered for them to wait for him in Sapporo, as their search for Asirpa has come to a halt and will head over to Sapporo. Koito stays silent for a moment before revealing that he has a Tsurumi card, taunting Tsukishima to make one himself. In Sapporo, Ushiyama and Toni discuss getting some food to eat when Toni hears a voice that he recognizes. Toni tells Ushiyama that he heard Ueji's voice, causing Ushiyama to become concerned and call Ueji a "demon".

A little boy calls out for his pet dog Tarou when Ueji approaches him, asking him who he is looking for. The boy says his dog is white and Ueji wonders if the dog had a black spot on the side of his nose, which the boy confirms. Ueji then points in a direction, saying that he had seen the dog over there, much to the boy's excitement, and Ueji shows him the way. As they walk, Ueji explains where he last saw Tarou, calling him a cat, disappointing the boy. Ueji begins to laugh and says that he was just kidding, and the boy momentarily sees his face, asking about the tattoos on it.

Ueji reveals that he used a needle to draw them on his face, and the boy asks if it hurt, which Ueji confirms but says that if one bears the pain, it can make one stronger. He describes the feeling as painting over yourself and transforming into a stronger person because the world is full of nothing but disappointment. Meanwhile, at a tavern, Boutarou talks to Sugimoto's Group about the first time he met Ueji, in which he tricked the pirate into thinking that his aunt had come to visit him.

Upon being placed into a cell with Ushiyama, who had been labour partners with Ueji, Boutarou asked him about his aunt, but Ushiyama revealed that he never had seen such a person. Boutarou then went to confront Ueji about the lie, but after taking one look at Boutarou's face, Ueji fell over, laughing his head off. Boutarou reveals that Ueji's favourite thing in the world is to see the look on someone's face when they are disappointed.

Ueji and the boy find Tarou only to see that the dog has been decapitated, and Ueji reveals that he has the dog's head in his box. The boy begins to cry over his dog's death, and Ueji realizes that he went too far. He attempts to decapitate the boy as well, becoming amused by the boy's expression of pain. Just then a loud sound rings through the air, and Ueji looks behind to see Toni and Ushiyama, the latter of whom is curious to see what kind of face Ueji will make when he snaps his spine into two.

## Character Appearances

* Sofia
* Svetlana
* Maiharu Gansoku
* Hajime Tsukishima
* Otonoshin Koito
* Kiroranke *(Flashback)*
* Genjirou Tanigaki *(Flashback)*
* Tatsuma Ushiyama
* Anji Toni
* Keiji Ueji
* Fusatarou Oosawa
* Asirpa
* Saichi Sugimoto
* Yoshitake Shiraishi