Board Thread:Fun and Games/@comment-30957100-20170301060751/@comment-30957100-20170425092522

Dear A Fandom user 88.1.108.24,

First of all, I love to read comprehensive discussions. And you my friend have drawn out a good point regarding economic vs political perspective.

I'm no economic expert so I'll just leave your words alone. But I'll talk a little bit on Overlord's side.

From what I can interpret, there is an essential good/service that Ainz needs: Information and knowledge. And this is pointed out in the first volume of the novel.

Potions are a short term consumable that the new world may not have the materials or substitutable materials to create. Thus, Aniz recruited Nifirea to study on his behalf. The same goes with Demiurge’s researches on leather and stuff that I can’t remember.

From volume 11, it is clear that runesmithing does not exist in YGGDRASIL. As a result, Nazarick has no possession of the skill. Even though Aniz does possess rune equipment, he has no means of creating them through runesmithing (He might still be able to make them through other ways). However, runesmithing in the new world is inferior to any method that Nazarick has to create equipment. And Aniz is only investing into it because he is “interested”. There is no reason he “need” this information. He is just researching it for the sake of knowing (That may potentially contribute to his cause later).

Other knowledges include experiments on warrior skills using Hamuske, Aniz’s secret study on NPCs and “How to be a responsible boss”. In general, just all information regarding the new and the YGGDRASIL and even the real world.

Information plays a huge role in the story of Overlord. There is no single volume where, the character Aniz is not attempting to gather information (Heck, there is a sound track for the anime named: “First let’s gather information”). The author is constantly enforcing this idea as Aniz was reminded every volume of more and more knowledge that he need to consider obtaining.

The true “Treasure” or “Power” Aniz owns is not the physical gold and equipment or the abilities he has. But the knowledge of them and the methods of creating/learning them.

“Knowledge is Power” They say.

They say that no man rules alone because one man cannot have all that knowledge by himself. Or can they?

In a sense, Aniz is ruling alone. His subordinate’s will is basically his will and he has the freedom as dictator with no concern of his followers. But in another sense, he is not. Even though he is all mighty and has the power by his side, he still has individuals that attempts to carry out his will. Demiurge and Albedo are the two most trusted individuals that tend to carry out Aniz’s will independently.

When a person truly rules alone, his will must be passed to his subjects and the subjects must follow. However, mistranslations between rulers and subordinate always occur.

I don’t need to do much explaining if everyone here read the novel at least once but we all know the relationship these two have with Aniz. When Aniz is tired with ruling a whole organization, he often leaves these two in charge. Demiurge is a bit too intelligent and often overestimates Aniz’s will. This diverges from Aniz’s initial will and thus, Aniz does not completely rule Demiurge.

Albedo’s case is over commitment. She does Aniz’s will well but tends to be overprotective/loyal to the point of unintentionally going against Aniz’s will (This can be seen on every NPC such as Narberal, Cocytus and Sebas as shown with their struggle in obeying Aniz due to their nature). Albedo… She formed a team behind Aniz to hunt down other supreme beings that Aniz treasures and tries to find. Even if it is for the good of Ainz, she has gone against his will and thus, Aniz does not completely rule Albedo.

If Aniz has the knowledge of all of his follower’s status and mindset constantly, he has the absolute authority to correct them. But he doesn’t because in the end, he does not have all that knowledge. This lack of knowledge, especially in the beginning has struck hard during volume 3 where Shalltear was mind controlled. She being mindcontroled is a direct metaphor for Aniz losing his rule over her. Hence, why he (The author defined his character’s idea of.) seeks knowledge and information constantly.

In fact, all NPC and new world residents influences Aniz’s decisions since his decisions must not only benefits him, but his followers too. A ruler must rule something. Without people to rule, a ruler only rules himself. That is when a man truly rules alone. As a ruler must rule something, the people will not always follow correctly, even if they are machines. (NPCs with no will. Aniz’s first experience with a deathknight sums up this perfectly: “Huh? What’s the point of a defensive monster leaving the person he’s supposed to protect?” Even though, that deathknight is carrying out his orders)

As a result, I conclude that Aniz is NOT ruling Nazarick alone.

Thanks for everyone who contributed discussions to this thread. Discussions help a person think and I thank everyone for helping me to come to this conclusion. This thread was made just because I had this interesting idea while watching a Youtube video and ended up as an interesting question. Feel free to say anything else or rebut my claim but either way, I now have an answer for myself.

Also, if you can’t judge from my terrible writing, as a student I am constantly made to find ideas and author’s purpose in writing and films for some reason. Usually, it is for titles I don’t care about but with Overlord, I just enjoy looking for Maruyama Kugane’s writing techniques. Even though it was translated, the message still comes through. And I hope to see more people discovering these ideas/techniques.

(Special thanks to A Fandom user 88.1.108.24 for causing me to finally write an answer. And CrimsonWarden for his first notice and in general: Just fantastic discussions man~. Love ya.)