Sugimoto closes the distance between himself and Asirpa as she continues her journey north into the wilderness of Karafuto in search of the dark secret of her father's past and the key to the hidden gold. Now, deep in Russian territory, Kiroranke has more to say about Wilk--Asirpa's father and his former conspirator in the plot to assassinate the Russian Czar. Back in Hokkaido, Lieutenant Tsurumi ponders the coded tattoos himself as Hijikata and his group track down another violent escaped convict near Lake Akan.