Chapter 231

Saying Goodbye to A.W. - Prologue (A.W（アレン・ウォーカー）に別れを告げる・序幕 , A.W. (Aren Wōkā) ni wakare o tsugeru ・ Jomaku ) is the two hundred and thirty first chapter of the D.Gray-man manga series written and illustrated by Katsura Hoshino. It was published in Jump SQ Rise on January 21, 2019.

Cover
Allen walker is wearing a composite outfit. The right side is a clown outfit with a white collar with red borders. The left side is a ringermaster outfit with a red lining and a black outside. He had clown make up only on the right side of his face with a red nose, red around his lips and a red vertical marking passing over the eye. His left eye is red from the activated curse.

There are small six branched stars falling about and in the background, Allen's head is surrounded by a golden spike halo.

Short Summary
Allen remembers when as a kid Mana taught him about the symbols he wrote everywhere. In the present, Kanda sends his golem to Tiedoll to lead the general to them. Kanda asks Allen to tell him his story, Allen is uncomfortable at first but when akumas appear, Allen accepts to tell him after the fight.

Long Summary
Allen asks Mana about the symbols he draws all the time. Mana answers it is a lucky charm for God to find him. Mana decides to teach him this "letter", commenting that "Allen" often gets lost recently when it didn't happen before. The letter reads "I'm here".

Back in the present, Allen and Kanda have moved up on a folly in a garden nearby. Holding his golem, Kanda explains his plan: He will send to golem after Tiedoll and Johnny so that the golem leads them back. Allen notes that for it to work Tiedoll needs to have activated his own golem but Kanda insistently brushes it off. Kanda activates the golem, give it the orders and watches it fly away.

Allen's belly gurgles prompting him to say they'll have to find some food while waiting. Kanda victoriously glances at him and declares that Allen have finally given up on fleeing. Allen answers that he was threatened into and that now that Kanda knows about Apocryphos he might as well drag him in. Kanda goes on and asks what Allen meant by "where everything began". Allen reacts with dismay, annoying Kanda. But Kanda calms down, sits and reiterates, explaining that he'll need to know more if he's to help him.

Allen is very surprised again believing Kanda must have something wrong with him. Finally Allen stops talking, put his head in his palm and thinks. He recalls Kanda that he peeked in his past when they were in the North American Branch. He apologizes for discovering about Alma Karma. Kanda looks stunned but keeps silent. Allen's curse eye activates as akumas appear all around them, after the fourteenth. Kanda prepares to fight but Allen leaps in, surrounded by his coat and sword in hand. He declares that he'll tell him everything when they're done with that.

Places

 * Edinstown

Chapter Notes

 * Mana mentions that Allen has been offten getting lost lately which didn't happen before. Mana is mistaking Allen the boy with Allen the dog who had apparently a good sense of direction unlike Allen.
 * Mana's "secret alphabet" dates back to when he and Nea were children.
 * Golems are built with a location device. They can find other golems as long as they are turned on.
 * Kanda orders the golem to find the general South East. As the general had not left London long ago, it confirms that Edinstown is located Northwest of Great Britain, most likely in Scotland.
 * Allen apologizes for his indiscretion when looking into Kanda and Alma's past. This echoes their conversation the day before during which Kanda said that his last moments with Alma only belong to him,.
 * Allen mentions "Alma" and "that person" probably alluding that he considers them two people.

Translation Notes

 * The term "序幕 " that is translated as "prologue" has "序" meanins "prelude", "prologue" and "幕 " meaning curtain. The whole term could thus be translated as "curtain rise" even more specifically alluding theater.


 * On the cover page, the bubbles before Allen read "生々流転" this which refers to the indian concept of Samsāra. That is the endless cycle of change of all that exists in most indian religions. It probably hints at the preeminent role of role of reincarnation and transmigration in D.Gray-man.
 * Mana translates the symbols with "私はここにいる" "I'm here". He uses "私" (watashi) a first person pronoun used by both men and women instead of his usual "僕" (boku) that is used by men.


 * The term はじまり (hajimari) or “the beginning” seems to be the central theme in this chapter; appearing on the cover page, the first page and the last page of last chapter, emphasizing the fact that both Allen and the plot has now come full circle and returned to where “Allen”began.
 * When Allen explains why he has given up on running, the panel emphasizes the suffix" てあげよう" (te-ageyou). This is used when we're doing a favor for someone else's sake. It is a suffix that is used carefully lest sounding patronising. Here, Allen using it sounds very cheeky, he 's saying that he's conceding to do that out of pity/sympathy for Kanda's persistence (rather than he being unable to escape).