Episode 330 (Manga)

Template:Chapter The Spring Blossoms of Another Day, Part 2 (遠い日の春花② , Tōi Hi no Shunka (2)^?) is the 330th chapter of the Berserk manga series, written and masterfully illustrated by Kentaro Miura. On many sites online this chapter has been mislabel/indexed as chapter 330. This is the second of 3 consecutive flashback chapters that take place during Guts' adolescence, before he joined the Band of the Hawk.

Summary

Guts stares at the tiny creature, unsure if she is a hallucination caused by a fever. The door to the cell opens, and Guts shifts his attention to the people entering: three guards and a noble. The noble orders the guards to force Guts to stand, and he begins inspecting the boy. When asked if his wounds have healed, Guts replies by spitting on the nobleman's face.

The guards begin to beat Guts, but the nobleman orders them to stop before Guts' wounds are aggravated. He then orders medicine be brought in. As he personally applies it to Guts' wounds, the nobleman explains that his son will be having his first ever battle the next day, that Guts will be offered as his first opponent, and that Guts will die in the fight, purposely or not. The nobleman then leaves, not wanting to provide Guts with food that will supply energy.

Guts wraps himself back up in the hay. Despite the cold, Guts begins to doze off. Just before he falls asleep, he sees that the small creature has reappeared and is moving towards him; it picks up a strand of hay and tickles Guts' nose with it, and is frightened when he sneezes. The creature runs to hide behind the flower's stem.

Guts assures the small creature that he means her no harm. Curious, it approaches Guts once more, and introduces itself as Chitch, the spirit of the spring blossom flower, explaining (in her simple language) that she derived her own name from the squeaking sound that rats that wander through the cell make. Guts introduces himself to Chitch, now believing her to be a hallucination.

Chitch denies being a hallucination, and wants to offer Guts thanks in exchange for him killing the rat he earlier ate, which he caught while it was exploring Chitch's flower. Though she cannot comply with his first request, to break him out of his cell, she is able to bring him water by catching falling droplets with a leaf from her flower. As Guts drinks the meager amount, Chitch notices that he is shivering. She then uses her powers to make him warm. While Guts marvels at how much better he feels, Chitch wanders back to her flower and plucks off another leaf, which she places over Guts' arrow wound. Amazed that the pain in the wound has instantly vanished, Guts asks Chitch to heal his other wounds.

Though at first Chitch moves to comply, she stops moving while on Guts' back, her cheery demeanor gone. She explains that the many other prisoner's she's seen in the cell have all left after a period of time, and she fears that Guts will also leave once he heals. She feels lonely when she is alone in the cell, during which her only source of enjoyment is the warmth of the sun, from which she derives her power.

Guts begins to suspect that Chitch is a manifestation of his own weakness. Plucking her off his back, After lightly squeezing her face with his thumbs, Guts tells Chitch that, on the way to the castle in which they are imprisoned, he saw a field full of flowers identical to Chitch's. He promises that, when he can leave the cell, he will bring her there. Delighted, Chitch resumes plucking leaves off her flower to place on Guts' injuries. Feeling the warmth of Chitch's touch on his back, Guts falls asleep.

Upon waking, Guts realizes that his fever is broken. He plucks several leaves off his back and calls out to the absent Chitch, but she doesn't respond. Guts then sees that her flower has been stripped of all its leaves and has begun to wilt. As he realizes that Chitch was not a hallucination after all, Guts approaches the flower and continues to call out to her, knowing that her absence is caused by her flower's lacking leaves. Eventually, the cell door is opened by several guards, so Guts plucks Chitch's flower and stuffs it in the waistband of his trousers before leaving.

Characters in Order of the Appearance

• Guts
• Chicchi