Lake Kussharo
Pekanpe?
You found a lot.
I grabbed them as we passed through Lake Touro.
When?
"Pekanpe" means "things which float on the lake surface."
They're Japanese water chestnuts.
We use them as a nonperishable food in winter.
These things are so thorny.
Ancient ninjas used to dry them and use them as caltrops, right?
Ninja?
Huci's 13th Younger Sister's Son
Kotan-kor Kamuy is noisy lately.
A type of owl.
It's a kamuy that protects the village.
It yells at the demons that come from the top of the mountains in a loud voice.
We can't just rely on the kamuy for everything.
If they come, the village men will risk their lives to fight.
"They"?
Bandits that have come to live in this area.
They travel through the darkness without even torches,
coming through the forest to attack.
None of them can see. They're blind bandits.
Someone saw them during an attack.
Their leader's body has strange tattoos.
An escaped prisoner from Abashiri?
One of the ones doing hard labor on Mt. Iwo.
His name is Toni Anji.
Golden Kamuy
Lake Kussharo
Mt. Iwo
Lake Mashuu
It was said that nobody sent to Mt. Iwo ever came back.
Abashiri
Iwo means "sulfur." It's a critical resource used in gunpowder and other things.
But the sulfuric acid gas it puts out goes in through eyes of the people who dig it up.
It took just six months for them to shut down the operation,
and in that time forty-two died and who knows how many went blind.
But I heard a rumor that it was secretly restarted,
and Warden Inudou is lending out prisoners to it.
The ones who fled before they were killed are Toni's bandits.
During the last new moon the village next to ours was attacked.
They're careful.
They attack entire villages in large groups,
and always on the new moon, when there's no light.
It'd be faster to find their hideout than wait for the new moon.
There's a hot springs inn run by a Japanese near here.
You may learn something there.
Hot springs?
That sounds great! I'd love to take a bath.
Asirpa-san, is something wrong?
No. I just heard sounds from the forest I'd never heard before.
Maybe I imagined them.
Episode Twenty-One: The Sound of an Ambush
I've touched the bodies of many different people.
But I've never seen such soft muscle before.
My hands are sinking in it.
Like a big cat... no, a tiger.
What a wonderful gift heaven has given you.
And these deep wounds all over your body...
How did you even survive?
Did you know this, masseuse?
When the Ainu have a funeral, they damage the individual's kimono and possessions.
That takes out their souls, so their owner can use them in the next world.
If you want to take out my soul, you'd need a bigger wound than any of these.
Their souls leave because they've finished their job in this world.
The reason why your wounds don't kill you is that you haven't finished your job here yet.
The masseuse told me there used to be more hot springs inns around here.
When they shut down all operations on Mt. Iwo, a lot of inns shut down.
The buildings are still in the forest.
Perfect places for bandits to hide, huh?
Want to go hunting at dawn?
Are you okay on your own?
Thank you,
but I'm better at walking at night than you are.
Really?
Yes.
We can't see with our eyes, but there are things only we can see.
Oh, right, miss. Watch out for the sound of clogs in the night.
Clogs?
The blind bandits who appear at night...
Everyone says it's the sound of clogs.
But it's not.
I heard it one night.
It is the sound of tongues.
They click their tongues and use the echoes to see.
What does it sound like?
How do they click their tongues?
What's that sound?
That sound... They've been following us the whole time!
Who are you guys?
There's more over here!
That's Toni Anji!
It's too dark to see! How do we fight?
And with our dicks out, too!
We can see you just fine.
That was Shiraishi's voice, wasn't it?
Did you get hired by the miners?
We're not here to deal with you!
Just let us copy your tattoo, and we'll give you a share.
You're not shooting because you're willing to make a deal, right?
I just don't want to hit the kid.
If you don't get him out of the bath, I'll start shooting now.
That's Ryu's voice!
It's too noisy to make anything out.
Get him out of here!
Let's hide in the forest!
Got him!
It'll take more wounds than these to kill me!
A gunshot!
Toni Anji seems to be the only one with a gun.
To stop them from shooting each other?
They approached us from the direction of the inn
to keep us from running toward the light.
They're used to fighting in the darkness.
Ogata was the only one careful enough to hide his gun near the hot springs.
He's going to complain to us later.
Sugimoto...
Put out the light.
Keep away from the light! One of them has a gun!
I can't see a thing.
And I've only got four bullets left. I can't waste them.
Asirpa-san, it's me.
Is this blood? Yours?
Are you hurt?
I'm fine.
If it weren't dark, they'd be no match for me, but...
If we survive until dawn,
we start our counterattack.
I smell blood.
Golden Kamuy
Are you really going?
I'll miss you.
Goodbye, Wilk.
Inkarmat...
This is from my mother.
Girls grow up and change so quickly.
You'll become much more beautiful.
If you wear this, then when we meet again, I'll recognize you.
Isn't it important to you?
So are you, my friend.
Thank you.
But I'll never see your face again.
That's what my fortune-telling says my fate is.
Inkarmat!
Tanigaki Nispa!
Where's Cikapasi?
I told him to find a place to hide and stay put.
They're coming.
I have an idea. Follow me.
Inkarmat, let's go.
I found this place this afternoon.
If we cross the lake and take the long route back,
we should be able to get back to the inn without them finding us.
Get on!
What's wrong, Inkarmat?
I'm sorry. I can't swim.
And I have a terrible premonition.
I've handled boats like this since I was a kid. I've gone fishing at night.
I know how to use them!
If I wanted you gone, I would've left you here to die.
Now get on!
More to the left. Throw it again.
They're trying to judge the distance!
Tanigaki Nispa!
I see. You're sending me to the next world, aren't you?
This is my fate.
To die without ever seeing him again.
The fortunes spoke true.
Tanigaki Nispa, you were shot!
It's fine. It passed through my butt.
Hey, are you laughing?
No, I just had the strangest dream.
I was remembering it and laughing.
Fate can be changed.
Sorry to interrupt your fun, but we should go.
No!
Dawn's coming.
Hurry, we're getting out of here!
We'll be totally exposed!
Ryu?
The tables have turned.
Sugimoto!
Ogata...
Toni Anji and his men went inside. That's their hideout.
If we go back to get our guns, they'll escape.
Let's head inside and finish this now.
Asirpa-san, stay outside.
It's dark.
I'm going in and opening the windows.
What is this?
They've nailed the windows shut.
Sugimoto!
Run!
Sugimoto!
Asirpa-san?
How did you get in?
Where's Ogata?
We split up.
It's not safe to move.
What do we do?
Where is it coming from?
I can't see anything.
This is their home.
They can see us perfectly.
Those are pekanpe.
You miners and Warden Inudou must suffer!
We'll take back everything you gained by stealing the prisoner's lives and sight!
Take this, you goddamn bastard!
Where are you, Sugimoto?
Are you okay?
Don't move, Asirpa-san!
You attacked innocent Ainu villages.
Justice isn't on your side, you thieves!
That's right.
We're starving and blind. It's the only way to survive.
We didn't kill anybody who was innocent.
Eventually you will.
You can tell?
Even I can see it...
You can't go back to who you were!
It's been a long time, Toni Anji.
That voice! What are you doing here?
Fighting Warden Inudou.
We meet again, miss.
Dick-sensei!
How'd you find us?
The dog outside helped us.
We had information that Toni Anji was lurking in this area.
Sugimoto, can you leave Toni to us to deal with?
If you'll let me copy his tattoos.
But Asirpa-san's relatives live around here.
I'd feel safer if you killed him and skinned him.
You live in the dark, hiding,
then coming out at night to harm others.
If you keep this up, your life will never escape from the darkness.
Damn, but you're right.
Abashiri
Mt. Iwo
Kushiro
Nemuro
Warden Inudou was lending out the prisoners to work at Mt. Iwo,
and using that money to buy weapons.
He even had a Maxim gun.
It's likely that he's hiding other powerful weapons again.
And they found you before you could discover where those weapons were being held.
Is that correct, Private Usami?
Tsukishima, make him sit.
Do you understand how difficult it was to get you hired as a guard there?
You're so close!
I'm going to draw a little stick figure on this mole and make it run!
It's running!
I'll make the other mole run, too!
My head is going to boil over!
The two moles are running as hard as they can.
But they'll never get closer.
The poor things.
Abashiri
Kitami
Mt. Iwo
Kushiro
Nemuro
Inkarmat and Kiroranke...
I wish I could just write it all off as a trap of Lt. Tsurumi's.
I had suspicions of my own and called an old friend to this city.
Hirose Photography Studio
I'll take photos of both of them and have someone look into it.
Why are we taking photos all of a sudden?
I wanted to send a photo of Asirpa-san to Huci.
We should all take one while we're here.
Hijikata-san, I wanted to give you what I've been keeping safe for so long.
Sugimoto's his name?
I felt something like nostalgia in the middle of the battle.
He was just like a young Hijikata-san, when I first met him in Abashiri.
As fierce as a demon, but somehow kind.
Um, am I really taking my clothes off?
Everybody else did.
Looking good! Spread your legs a little more!
Next Time: On the Night of the New Moon
Next Time:
"On the Night of the New Moon."