Royal Academy

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Royal Academy
Original Name	皇家學院
Alias(es)	Gard Royal Academy; Royal Courtyard
Affiliation	Gard Empire / Gard Royalty
Occupation/Role	Comprehensive imperial institution for academic, magical, martial, and practical-combat education
Status	Active; relocated from its original campus to a new campus
First Appearance	272

Background / History

The Royal Academy was established with Royalty support and was formerly centered on educating aristocratic children. Before its reforms, it only admitted exceptional commoner geniuses; ordinary commoners had no realistic path to enrollment. 315 335 342

Its expansion was driven by the Empire's need for people capable of serving in war, including a potential future conflict with the demon race. The revised curriculum emphasized practical combat alongside conventional knowledge, and enrollment was opened to commoners and demi-humans. 302 315

The first enlarged entrance examination proved difficult to administer, with roughly 2,000 examinees divided into ten groups and requiring additional Magic Academy staff as proctors. 315 By the following academic year, nearly 10,000 applicants competed for 300 places, leading the Academy to streamline admissions into magic, combat, and theoretical tracks. 407

Space and financial pressure accompanied the expansion. Increased enrollment required new dormitories and substantially raised student-subsidy costs, forcing the Academy to replace universal class-based subsidies with awards based on magical aptitude, grades, class leadership, and teaching-assistant work. 304 342 346

Campuses & Facilities

Original Campus

The original campus stood on extensive grounds at the outskirts of the Imperial City. Its stone-paved paths, drainage system, academic-style buildings, forest, and large grounds gave it the scale and prestige of a castle complex. 303 304 335

• Teaching building — A square structure with interconnected corridors and a central courtyard; its classrooms housed the basic classes. 335
• Training grounds — Used by the Swordsmanship Academy and Knight instructors; Sword Saint Eugene was affiliated with this area. 335
• Library — A large, precisely categorized, multi-level collection covering fields beyond the resources available to Archmage Kiriri. 335
• Magic research laboratory and testing ground — Facilities for new magic and magical-engineering research. 335
• Sealed underground facilities — Hidden laboratories and archives protected by iron doors, Royal Family-held keys, and later defensive formations. 360 376 476

New Campus

The Academy planned to move to a larger site near Lake Ri because the original campus no longer had room to expand. 335 The relocation began in Imperial Calendar 208, with students assisting in the move. 395

• Brick-paved roads and a purpose-built sewage system improved the campus infrastructure. 408
• New dormitories provided improved conditions, though ordinary students still commonly shared four-person rooms. 408
• The old campus was repurposed as a base for the Royal Knights, Imperial Knights, and Imperial City Guard. 395 476
• Merchants gathered outside the new campus, forming the beginnings of a commercial street serving the student population. 423

Academic Structure

Affiliated Academies

Division	Focus
Magic Academy	Magical education, research, spell development, and magical engineering
Swordsmanship Academy	Swordsmanship and Sword Qi training
Knight Academy	Knight training and related combat disciplines

Students are not restricted to the field of their primary academy. A Magic Academy student can study other subjects, and the institution's strength lies in this broad elective system. 304

Classes and Graduation

Students were initially assigned to Classes A through F based on aptitude and broader assessment results. Background and social standing could also affect placement; Xi Edwen, despite strong examination results, chose Class B rather than Class A. 306 337

Academic Feature	Details
Morning schedule	Unified basic classes
Afternoon schedule	Freely arranged elective courses
Elective credit	Most courses grant 1 credit
Graduation threshold	10 credits required to apply for graduation
Typical duration	The credit workload could require five years unless students earned credits through other means or took heavier course loads. 337

Electives include Potions Studies, Spell Development, Chant Development, Magic Array Studies, Spirit Magic, advanced Sword Qi, practical anti-monster skills, riding, ancient history, bloodline research, and contract magic. 337

Entrance Examination

Stage	Assessment
Magic assessment	Measures magical aptitude and power; candidates with sufficient magical talent may receive exemptions from later tests.
Literacy and teamwork assessment	Tests knowledge, adaptability, and cooperation, including forest-based activities.
Combat assessment	Evaluates practical fighting ability across varied weapons and disciplines.
Theory track	Allows applicants seeking scholarly paths to take specialized theoretical examinations. 309 407

The Academy does not publicly disclose its complete scoring formula, allowing flexibility in balancing talent, knowledge, adaptability, and combat ability. 309

Accommodation & Student Support

Accommodation reflects the Academy's social hierarchy and its reforms.

• Royal Hall — High-quality housing assigned to royalty, nobles, and exceptional talents. Liberia, whose magic talent was rated level 9, was assigned here with Class A. 316 329
• Commoner's Hall — An older two-floor building assigned to commoners. It lacked private bathrooms and kitchens, relying instead on communal facilities. 330
• New-campus dormitories — Higher-ranked students could receive private rooms, bathrooms, kitchens, living rooms, and balconies; ordinary students continued to use shared housing. 408

The Academy once distributed subsidies by class tier, but the cost of expansion made this unsustainable. Its revised system grants fixed support to students with level-7-or-higher magic talent and awards scholarships for high academic rankings and class leadership. 341 346

Administration

• Principal Mendel — The Academy's principal and a Hall of Fame-level expert. He oversees admissions, student safety, and institutional responses to major threats. 304 376 397
• Dean Griffin — Senior Magic Academy official who helped oversee admissions, laboratories, and student academic progress. He was later demoted to an ordinary teacher after repeated incidents connected to the Academy. 304 336 468
• Archmage Kiriri Pandram — Formerly connected to the Academy and trusted by its leadership; she entrusted Mel and Liberia to Mendel and Griffin's guidance. 304

Student Organizations

Brotherhood

The Brotherhood is an entrenched student faction with influence among noble students. The Academy tolerates ordinary student competition and suppression so long as conflicts do not escalate into deaths, though the Brotherhood's deeper ties to teachers and external businesses are not openly acknowledged by the higher administration. 343 363 408

The organization collected tribute from students, relied increasingly on external income after subsidy reforms, and maintained a mansion on campus. 420

Lionheart Society

The Lionheart Society was founded by Mel Carlo, Xi Edwen, and Kain Eugene as a counterweight to the Brotherhood after an assassination attempt against Mel. 388

• Recruited students who had been pressured or exploited by the Brotherhood. 420
• Did not demand monthly tribute from members. 420
• Began gathering intelligence on Brotherhood members and activities. 420
• Offered tutoring in magic, swordsmanship, and other skills as a membership benefit. 420
• Used House Edwen's Marquis-family backing to contend with the Brotherhood's influence. 408

Institutional Conflicts

• Gard Royalty — The Academy is supported by the Royalty and is expected to cultivate future imperial talent. Royalty influence is visible in admissions, student placements, and the protection or concealment of certain royal students. 315 467
• The Church — The Academy represents Royal authority in its rivalry with the Church. This made its students politically sensitive during the blood-magic investigation, when the Inquisition avoided holding Mel, Mamaka, and Luke for long because of the Academy's influence. 353
• Knight Orders — The Academy's old campus became the base of the Empire's major Knight Orders after the relocation. 395
• Bernardo Merchant Guild — The guild sponsored examination supplies during the enlarged admissions process and later became part of the commercial activity surrounding the Academy. 315 423

Major Incidents

Incident	Details
Secret Chamber investigation	Mel Carlo, Mamaka, and Luke became involved in the discovery of imprisoned women and blood-magic research beneath a church. The Inquisition released them partly to avoid provoking the Academy. 353
Underground laboratory breach	Students entered sealed underground facilities connected to old research laboratories, prompting the Academy to restore defensive formations and reseal the entrance. 360
Truth Society invasion	The Truth Society divided the Academy into barrier zones and released dark-attribute composite beasts. Principal Mendel directed students toward the barrier core while trapped groups fought to survive. 397
Sun Lake deaths and lockdown	The deaths of an Exar royal student, guards, and Southern Church personnel led the Emperor to order a Royal Knight investigation and temporarily seal the Academy. 467
Dark Spirit security failure	Repeated security incidents involving the Book of the Sage, Prince Exar, and the Dark Spirit drew the Emperor's criticism even after the Academy had moved campuses. 508

Trivia

• The Academy's library did not contain every historical chronicle known to scholars; some works circulated only privately among nobles. 394
• Students may bring their own horses, but the Academy does not pay for their upkeep. 414
• A fourth-year collaborative project sought to create a large-scale magical talent-testing device to reduce the burden of admissions screening. 407