Episode 30 (Manga)

Template:Chapter Moment of Glory (栄光の瞬間, Eikō no toki^?) is the 30th chapter of the Berserk manga series.

Summary

On the eve of the Band of the Hawk's return to Windham, a banquet is thrown in Griffith's and their honor. For the first time ever, the Hawks must get dressed up prim and proper to attend their own party.

Since the entire Band of the Hawk comprises several thousand soldiers, their chief officers and division leaders are responsible for appearing in their stead. They are: Griffith, Guts, Casca, Judeau, Corkus, Pippin and Rickert.

Of the seven, Griffith is easily the most at ease in the situation. Upon entering the banquet hall, he is swarmed by women who want to meet him. Once their is no room to get to Griffith, however, the other males of the group are also quickly surrounded and interrogated. Guts in particular is admired for his defeat of Boscogn. He is soon overwhelmed and escapes from the horde of women still fawning over the other male Hawks.

Also attending the banquet are Laban and Owen, who notice other noblemen staring aggressively at Griffith. They discuss how Griffith's legendarily swift rise in status is bound to attract people who want to prevent him from reaching new heights.

As Guts sits down on one of the benches lining the walls of the hall, he spots Casca who, like the men among the Hawks, is swarmed by people of the opposite gender. She, in turn, sees Guts watching, excuses herself from her conversation partners, and rushes over to Guts, using him as a means of escape from the party.

Free of the crowd, Guts notice how radiant Casca looks in her dress. She elbows his chin in response, and she drags him out onto the banquet hall's terrace, which is devoid of people. Outside, Casca admits to Guts that she fears she looks unattractive due to her musculature, what with being a female soldier, but Guts assures her that she looks good. He tells her that she should ask Griffith to dance, but she declines, fearing she'd only step on his feet.

Casca begins questioning Guts, asking what possible force on Earth could have made him attend a formal banquet, to which he replies that this is the fruit of Griffith's dream, and he wants to see it with his own eyes. Casca asks if he really means to leave the Hawks, but, before he can answer, the crowd inside begins to cheer, welcoming the King, Queen and Princess of Midland to the ball. Casca goes to return inside, inviting Guts along with her, but he decides to stay outside for a while longer. Before she enters the hall, Guts calls out to her, but decides he has nothing to say. He thinks to himself that there is another reason he came to the ball, a reason the other Hawks, other than Griffith, aren't aware of.

Inside, the King of Midland formally addresses the crowd. He summarizes the hardships Midland has endured in the war, announces that Midland and Chuder have signed an armistice, bringing an end to the war, thanks everyone present for being an ally to him, and ends on the big news that he intends to award the Band of the Hawk in its entirety a new, higher status, and a renaming to the White Phoenix Knights, and promoting Count Griffith to White Phoenix General. In addition, the unit commanders of the Band of the Hawk (Guts, Casca, Judeau, Corkus, Pippin and Rickert) will all receive knighthoods and new titles, similar to Griffith's title of viscount.

The Hawks inside the hall are all stunned at the news that they've entered the nobility. Amidst the cheering crowd, Griffith looks outside, sees Guts, and smiles warmly at him.

Characters in Order of the Appearance

• Judeau
• Pippin
• Guts
• Rickert
• Corkus
• Griffith
• Laban
• Owen
• Casca
• Charlotte
• King of Midland
• Queen of Midland

Arc Navigation

Template:Band of the Hawk Arc