Overlord: The Undead Oh! Chapter 49

Strongest Ruler Coordination Technique (最強支配者コーデ術) is the forty-ninth chapter of the Overlord: The Undead Oh! series.

Summary
Foire attends a special class organized by the one day head maid to focus on "Ainz-sama's Dressing Coordination Technique". Foire hears someone approaching the room and recognizes the voice of CZ2128 Delta and is hopeful it is the Pleiades maid. To her surprise CZ is at the door but it is Neuronist Painkill that is acting as today's head maid. Neuronist greets Foire who is acting as the representative for the Homunculus Maids, whilst she explains that CZ is acting as the representative for the Pleiades. Neuronist asks if Foire is the most fashionable of the maids in her group. Though the maids tells the two that since there were too many applicants for the class, the maids held a rock-paper-scissor tournament which ended as Foire being the winner.

Neuronist then goes on to the main topic of the class, citing the responsibility of a maid in shaping the appearance of their master. This class is to help coordinate their artistry to bring out Ainz Ooal Gown's charm. For this Neuronist has called a special guest to help them and out of the doors comes out none other than Ainz. However after he flamboyantly displays himself as the ruler of Nazarick, the maid sees that it's Pandora's Actor who is going to act as their mannequin.

Neuronist leaves the selection of clothing from a wardrobe in Foire's hands eager to see what kind of outfit she will coordinate with. While watching her work, the special intelligence officer of Nazarick notices that Foire's skirt is shorter compared to the rest of the general maids. She deduces that Foire did it herself which shows her sense of fashion. Foire finishes her first set of clothes on Pandora's Actor which is composed of a embroidered robe and pointed witch's hat. The clothing choices leaves Neuronist with the impression of a full course meal, which Foire replies that she is hungry much to the Brain Eater's shock. Neuronist nervously asks Foire if her casual clothes are also styled like this. However Foire states that her job as a maid comes first and all she needed were her maid clothes, which Neuronist interprets being a workaholic. The temporary head maid then decides to instruct Foire to avoid conflicting patterns in their clothing selection and to stick with one type.

Foire notes that CZ's equipment have a theme of a camouflaged colors, which makes her ask the other maid what exactly is the pattern's significance. CZ tells her to guess, and after some though Foire thinks that the pattern is based of a Beastman with a sword and shield, which Pandora's Actor wonders if this has now become a Rorschach test.

Neuronist examines Foire's clothing selection commenting that aside from the patterns, the colors she chose was a nice touch as purple, red, black and grey were suited for Ainz. And she iterates that there are roughly four types of colors that can be diagnosed that suits a person based on color of eyes and hair. For Ainz it is brevet winter, while Pandora's Actor is autumn. In CZ's opinion any color suits Ainz. Neuronist is humored that she would think that, but asks the maid to consider the impression colors and patterns give such as if Ainz wore a pastel pink robe with large white polka dot pattern. There needs to be harmony with the clothes and person to bring the best blend of style. For the Supreme Being the outfit needs to be dignified and suitable for a ruler. Having polka dots gives the impression of immaturity and gentleness. However using pindots, small polka dot patterns with a deep and calm color exudes a more mature aura and elegance. As the torturer describes the style she imagines herself being offered a majestic cloak by Momonga.

CZ simplifies it that high-brightness colors do not show the dignity of a ruler. Neuronist states that it depends on the degree of brightness as such colors are light and low brightness colors are heavy for the beholder but it can create a profound feeling. Thus it may not be suitable for colors that occupy a large spectrum as a ruler. Foire still thinks Ainz would look good in bright colors, which annoys Neuronist that a little girl like her cannot understand Ainz color is dark. She explains that if one only uses a little high-brightness color then the effect wouldn't be as profound. Using an embroidered coat, she emphasizes that putting edging on the clothes will make the accent work and fashionable. It's not limited to fashion but also a good idea to put three kinds of colors in a well-balanced color scheme with an area of 70% base color, 25% assortment color, and 5% accent color. This impresses CZ as she originally though color sense is sensuous, but if one can manage it with numerical values such as brightness and spectrum it can be learned by an automaton. To demonstrate when Foire shows her a new outfit she selected, CZ estimate the color scheme by percentage.

Neuronist goes on to explain that the accent color is also known as the color scheme, noting it to be good to use a color that is different from other colors. Seeing CZ is confused, Neuronist explains that color has large differences in saturation and hues in addition to lightness. Saturation is the vividness of colors. Bright colors are called vivid colors. Whereas white, gray and black are achromatic colors, so if you add bright colors to the monotone coordination, the effect will be outstanding like with Ainz's face which is a monotone color scheme with red eyes. Personally to Neuronist she feels that Ainz doesn't need any clothes to make him beautiful and should proudly show his body to other countries, though Pandora's Actor questions if naked diplomacy is acceptable.

On hues, Neuronist elaborates that they can be understood by roughly dividing the colors into twelve and arranging them in a circle. The colors on the opposite side of the circle are complementary colors with large differences. Two complementary colors make each and will complement and sharpen the outfit. Using CZ as an example, who's pink hair and green camouflage pattern are just complementary. On the other hand Pandora's Actor's outfit is all yellowish, but even if his face turns purple which is not a complementary color to his outfit it will still match.

Foire asks Neuronist her own usual fashion sense which the torturer replies to be mostly leather describing it to be bondage fashion. In that it fits her body with a color of low lightness, as black makes her outfit looks tight. To her it creates an image of long legs and a fine look while suppressing exposure of the skin.

Going back to Ainz's detail, since he has no muscles and has to look like the guest of honor with dignity, a stylish thin suit would look great. For a ruler though it would better be a looser and wide hem for a profound effect. The silhouette of the whole body is referred as A Line, but the X line is recommended for Ainz which uses looser clothes hence explaining the undead's usual wear. Even his shoulder adornments are used to accentuate his figure.

This is a lot of stuff to remember to Foire. Neuronist though shows Pandora's Actor in a new outfit this time with harmonized colors and patterns. It's the Asgard Wizard clothing line as it contains equipment as a set. Others exist with certain eccentricities like the Unconventional Mercenary Soldier. The class is concluded and Neuronist asks Foire to show her the results of her study. Neuronist and CZ leave the room for awhile to allow Foire to work, and when they return to the room find Foire has dressed Pandora's Actor as a boy wearing a pith hat and messenger bag. Neuronist studying the outfit notes that the loose smock of inflated color gives it a volume so that it does not make the wearer look like a flower, and the black bunts emphasize the white legs of Ainz. The blue smock is a complimentary color to the dark yellow hat and messenger bag making the outfit look sharp and in harmony. In addition the red padding on the chest functions as an accent color to Ainz's fiery eyes. Even though it fails to display the dignity of a ruler, its color coordination earns Foire a passing grade.

As for the outfit Neuronist thinks that it would bring Ainz's naughty side if he wore it. While her friends congratulate her, Foire makes a confession that it was not totally her idea as it was already a set outfit series called Kindergarten that she found in the wardrobe. To Neuronist the name "kindergarten" is unfamiliar and wonders if it is the name of a place. The item in actuality was part of an April Fool's Day event in YGGDRASIL that was won by the Supreme Beings.

Character Appearance

 * Foire
 * Lumière
 * Cixous
 * Neuronist Painkill
 * CZ2128 Delta
 * Ainz Ooal Gown
 * Fluder Paradyne (Cameo)
 * Jircniv Rune Farlord El-Nix (Cameo)
 * Pandora's Actor
 * Tabula Smaragdina (Cameo)
 * Peroroncino
 * Ulbert Alain Odle

Locations

 * Great Tomb of Nazarick

Chapter Notes

 * This chapter first appears in the Monthly Comp Ace July 2021 Issue.