Guts assassinates Julius, but is emotionally scarred when forced to kill Julius' son Adonis to conceal the deed. Later, he hears Griffith tell Charlotte that he would consider a true friend to be his equal, someone with his own dreams and who follows his own path. Guts realises that although he is close to Griffith, he is not his friend.

Guts tends to Casca but she still resents him. She tells her story of how Griffith helped her save herself from being raped, and give her a choice in life so she followed him. She watched him pragmatically go with a pederast lord to earn money to create his army and fulfill his dream. When Guts came, she knew that she would not be Griffith's chosen friend.