Chapter 6

## Persecution

* Color
* Volume

**Persecution** (迫害, *Hakugai*) is the 6th chapter of the *Golden Kamuy* manga.

## Synopsis

As Asirpa shows Sugimoto hare tracks, she teaches him how to catch animals by using traps. However, instead of an hare they manage to catch another Abashiri convict. Once they have tied up the convict to the tree, Asirpa starts copying his tattoo on paper while Sugimoto tries to interrogate him. The prisoner keeps silent, and Sugimoto sarcastically wonders if the trap crashed his windpipe. The prisoner attempts to taunt Asirpa by calling her Sugimoto's pet dog, which infuriates Sugimoto and makes him squeeze the convict's face and threaten to break his jaw. Asirpa stops Sugimoto and tells him that she is used to hearing such things so she isn't bothered. Sugimoto lets go off the prisoner but thinks to himself that one doesn't have to get used to being berated. As he thinks that, Sugimoto remembers of his past.

Back in his village, Sugimoto is seen looking out of the door of his house. Accompanied by her mother, a young woman named Umeko is watching him from the distance. Her mother tells her to stay away from that house and to give up on Saichi. Later, some kids run past the Sugimoto house while pitching their noses and holding their breath, saying three members of that family have died of consumption. At night, when Sugimoto watches his house burn down, Umeko runs to him, relieved that he is not hurt. She asks him who set the house on fire, and Sugimoto replies that he did. He explains to Ume that he received a message of his father's death so now there's nobody left to call that place home. He then announces that he is leaving the village. When Sugimoto tells Umeko that she should listen to her parents and marry Toraji, Umeko cries and begs him to take her with him. But Sugimoto tells her to stay away from him, as he might be already sick himself. With tears in his eyes, Sugimoto tells Umeko that he doesn't want to kill her.

Sugimoto leaves the village, promising himself he will come back in two years if he doesn't show any symptoms. But when he comes back, he sees Umeko being married off.

In the present, Asirpa alerts Sugimoto that she's found a hare. She explains to Sugimoto how to capture the hare and instructs him with throwing a stick over the hare's head, to which Sugimoto protests that he will feel bad for scaring a hare like that. While the two are busy catching the hare, the prisoner manages to break out of his bonds. He is revealed to be Yoshitake Shiraishi, the legendary Escape King and genius at breaking out of any confinement. Shiraishi spits out a razor blade wrapped in waterproof oil paper and tied up to his tooth with a horsehair, then uses his amazing agility to cut the ropes and set himself free.

Asirpa manages to catch the hare but she sees the prisoner escape and warns Sugimoto, who immediately chases after him. Asirpa tells Sugimoto to not follow the escapee too far, as the weather is getting worse.

Sugimoto pursues Shiraishi to a cliff, which Shiraishi tries to climb down. Sugimoto draws his gun, saying he will shoot Shiraishi unless he goes back, but Shiraishi tells him to just shoot, since getting shot or later makes no difference for him. The two men are interrupted by a loud sound, which Sugimoto assumes is gunfire. However, it's *nipus hum*, "the sound of trees splitting", a phenomena where a sudden drop in temperature causes the sap in the trees to freeze and the trunk to split open. The sound of the wave of cold produces an avalanche, and Sugimoto and Shiraishi try to escape it. However, the snow under their feet starts breaking, and the two fall down into the cold river.

## Character Appearances

* Asirpa
* Saichi Sugimoto
* Yoshitake Shiraishi *(Debut)*
* Noppera-Bou *(Mentioned)*
* Umeko *(Flashback)*
* Sugimoto's Father *(Mentioned)* *(Flashback)*
* Toraji *(Flashback)* *(Mentioned)*

## Trivia

* In Japanese, when Shiraishi insults Asirpa by calling her a pet dog, he uses a slur for Ainu people that was common back in the day. The Japanese word for dog, 犬 (*Inu*), was used as a derogatory term for Ainu people because of the similarity in sounds.