One Piece: Mandala Swordsman

Chapter 116 Why do you suffer? Because all the good fortune has been enjoyed by others.

Contrary to his tough and cold exterior, those familiar with Sakazuki know that he has several contrasting hobbies.

He loves flowers, often wearing a cherry blossom brooch on his chest, and his tattoos also feature rose and cherry blossom designs. He also enjoys growing potted plants, and there are quite a few potted plants in his office.

Sakazuki can be described as an extremely staunch pragmatist. He never keeps anything unrelated to work in his office. However, despite this attitude, he is willing to decorate his office with potted plants, which shows his fondness for them.

However, Roman felt that Sakazuki's fondness for him was not a huge contrast, but rather a practical application of his sense of justice.

On the windowsill of the office, there were all sorts of white porcelain basins of various sizes, each with a bonsai tree standing upright and growing well. It was clear that the owner had put a lot of effort into them.

However, Roman only perceived Sakazuki's extreme sense of justice.

Because these plants are naturally beautiful because of their curves, the most natural beauty is created when they are in harmony with the curved trunk. Generally, the shaping process involves a combination of accumulating branches and cutting the trunk, as well as wiring, followed by pruning at each stage to remove excess branches. This makes the main and secondary branches clear and simple, and allows the branches and crown to rise. The outer outline of the branches is triangular, which easily creates a graceful feeling, like a dragon riding the mist and wandering in the sky.

However, the charm of curvature has been transformed into a straight shape.

Therefore, from Roman's perspective, Sakazuki's seemingly neat tailoring is actually full of violence and is also a manifestation of his absolute sense of justice.

The principle of observing the object and investigating the person is, in essence, quite reasonable.

"This kind of report only exposes your incompetence. Is your existence only a disgrace to the Navy...?"

This is the sixth person Sakazuki has insulted.

Roman counted silently in his mind.

At first, Sakazuki was just angrily muttering to himself, but as the number of documents he reviewed increased, his temper grew, and he finally couldn't help but call someone over.

Roman felt a pang of sympathy for the naval officer trembling under Sakazuki's wrath. Under Sakazuki's immense pressure, he was already drenched in sweat, his eyes filled with fear, looking like an innocent and pitiful little dog shivering in a corner.

Forget it, I should pity myself first.

Looking at the numerous documents on his desk, just as many as Sakazuki's, Roman could only quickly begin reviewing them.

If she doesn't do a good job, Sakazuki will probably scold her even more harshly. Sengoku, Zephyr, and Garp aren't around, so she can't rely on anyone else's face this time.

Even though he was mentally prepared, Sakazuki's daily workload still exceeded Roman's expectations. It felt like he had more than the Warring States period.

No wonder he has a bad temper. He's paid the salary of a lieutenant general but does more work than a general. It's no wonder he's a bit resentful.

However, Roman soon understood why Sakazuki had such a heavy workload: she had seen the branch documents for both the West and East Seas, and according to the task assignments, she remembered…

"Sakazuki, why are you so angry so early in the morning? Didn't Mr. Sengoku arrange for the famous Lieutenant Roman to be your adjutant? Isn't that a good thing? Alright, let this poor navy man leave first. He probably has work to do too." A strange, slightly lazy tone.

“Mr. Borsalino…thank you very much.” As if granted a pardon, the officer left immediately, but in his haste, he gently closed the door behind him.

"Don't you have anything else to do?" Sakazuki's tone was still harsh, but it seemed to have softened considerably compared to before.

Incredibly, he didn't continue to get angry. Their relationship was better than Roman had imagined.

"No matter how busy you are, you have to visit your old friends first," Borsalino said, seemingly with a touch of warmth.

"I think he's just here to slack off," Roman guessed with no small amount of malice.

"Hmph." Sakazuki naturally didn't believe Borsalino's sweet talk, and his focus returned to his work.

"Isn't Lieutenant Roman feeling a bit overworked? Sakazuki's workload has always been the pride of Marineford!"

Is this gloating? Tell me, do you even want this kind of pride?

"How could that be? You can learn a lot from dealing with these things." With his most perfect smile, Roman said, completely against his will.

"Really? That's quite an impressive level of thinking. You're not like a child at all."

Roman pretended not to hear, but it would be impolite not to reciprocate. He could tolerate such veiled criticism, but there was no need to.

"Lieutenant General Borsalino, you should have some free time, right? Would you mind having a chat with me?"

"Lieutenant Roman, it's working hours now." Sure enough, Sakazuki became dissatisfied, and Roman even felt the air in the room rise a few degrees.

"Please understand, I was only talking to Mr. Borsalino about work-related matters."

Before the two could react, Roman quickly spoke up: "I just discovered that there are a total of 235 documents related to the West Blue and East Blue. According to the previous task assignments by Admiral Sengoku, Vice Admiral Sakazuki's documents should mainly come from the New World, while Vice Admiral Kuzan's matters should come from the North Blue and South Blue. So the rest should be your work..."

Before he finished speaking, Borsalino instantly transformed into a golden ray of light and rushed straight towards the door.

Wow, he runs really fast. It seems work is Borsalino's weakness after all.

"Wait, you're saying those documents were Borsalino's work?"

Sakassky clearly listened carefully to Roman's words.

“Yes, a large portion of the documents we’ve been dealing with concern Lieutenant General Borsalino’s missions. You… didn’t know that?” Roman asked, a little hesitantly.

Then, Roman saw Sakazuki's face turn black at a visible speed, and lava even appeared to be rising from his forehead.

No wonder my workload is increasing; that Borsalino kid actually gave him his work too.

So, I guess I check my efficiency every morning too.

┗|｀O′|┛Aww~~.

Despite his seemingly ruthless and cold-blooded nature, Sakazuki was defeated by Borsalino's cunning and shrewdness.

Roman could roughly guess from Sakazuki's expression that Borsalino must have secretly given him his workload, which was why Borsalino could leisurely drink hot tea and trim his nails in his office.

Why can we enjoy peace and tranquility? Because someone is bearing the burden for you.

Honest and hardworking Sakazuki received a harsh lesson from Borsalino today.

"Just throw all the documents he needs to do over to him."

"Ok."

Roman swore that this was the most pleasant thing she had heard since she stepped into Sakazuki's office this morning.