The morning provided an abundant amount of sunlight streaming from all corners of the castle. The garden and the courtyard were wet with morning dew and created a myriad of glittering light when the sunlight refracted against the small droplets of water.

It pained Robin's sensitive eyes to see such blinding sight in the early morning from above the balcony. Even more so when her body felt like lead and the sagging of her eye bags were heavy under her eyes. Her skin was still a sickly pale color and for some reason, her mind was exhausted and swayed to stay awake. Breakfast was served separately on the open balcony. Fresh fruits, slices of bread, eggs, sausages, and tea provided by the chef allowed the best of the best to be eaten by Master. Or so Quinn had explained; it was hard to completely comprehend the mage.

“Who carried me back to my room?” Robin asked, chewing on the small sausage. Breakfast wasn't her most favorite meal of the day, because all the food were hard to stomach after waking up, plus she didn't feel hunger in the morning but rather in the afternoon. But she still forced herself to eat, the school slogan 'breakfast is food for the brain' running in the back of her cluttered mind.

“I believe Dorian had been addressed by chef Jacques of what had occurred. He went to find you only to find that you had fallen asleep out in the garden and took the liberty to carry you back into your quarters,” explained Quinn.

“I see,” she murmured her head bobbing to stay awake. “Also could you call Cain in here for me?”

As per her request, Quinn quickly disappeared before reappearing with Cain behind her.

“You requested for my audience, Master?” He bowed a small smile etched on his face. As for how genuine it was Robin was unable to tell.

“Yes, I want you to delay the educational program and instead offer counseling sessions for the guests. If it deems complicated to offer counseling, I can find another person suited to counseling and then approach the educational program from there.”

Cain thought for a moment, puzzled at her words. There was no need to provide counseling as it didn't really bring any benefits. “That isn’t necessary, Master. I am fully capable of executing your orders. There is no need to recruit another member to fulfill a task given to me. However, may I inquire about this sort of counseling session?”

The unmoving display of loyalty counted as another reason Robin felt alienated. Sometimes it was hard to discern whether they had their own inner thoughts or not, so talking about how she really felt made no difference. She craved for some kind of social interaction preferably human or else she may go insane.

“Mental health is important,” she started, internally scoffing at the irony of her own mental health. She would worry about herself later. “The slaves will have some mental trauma to an extent, and it affects their efficiency, work ethics, and ability to trust. If all those factors are not fulfilled or even missing, do you think educating them will be as efficient compared to class filled with confident students?” Her eyes darted to the blonde vampire, a bit bewildered to why he wasn't bothered at the sun.

As if enlightened, Cain came gave a curt nod for Master's insight. “Of course, I will dutifully oblige to Master’s wishes. How should I carry this out?” he asked, unsure if his Master had any other notion to execute her plans.

That’s actually a very good question.

She thought of it, leaning back against the cushioned seat. How did modern psychologist and psychiatrists treat patients suffering from depression or PTSD? There were multiple ways for sure, but Robin was unaware of how the actual process itself. She never took any counseling session herself, but it may be she would put that under her derelict to-do list that will never be touched.

Psychiatrists may often prescribe prescription drugs, while psychologists offer a variety of therapies.

She was stumped. Depression, anxiety, and PTSD often required intensive treatment, but what kind of treatments? Prescribing drugs may help but was unsure of what kind of drugs would help. Addiction would also be a problem if the drugs become abused.

She sighed, the idea was easier than taking action and decided to explain to Cain about the very little she knew about mental health, psychology, psychologists, and psychiatrists. Hopefully, he may formulate a plan to alleviate this predicament.

The vampire nodded a few times, during her explanation. Robin paused multiple times to see if he was able to follow and it seemed he was, which was interesting considering the mental health was in some ways linked to human emotions. Were vampires able to feel the same set of human sentiments? Are they able to feel the same pain, fear, sadness, and despair?

Are they even capable? Their expressions make it believable, but I can't fully read them...

“I see…” he hummed. “How about we provide them with status removal potion. According to my basic knowledge, when an individual is affected is strained through some sort of emotional turmoil, it counts as a debuff. For example, depression may cause an effect on individual’s health, behavior, appetite, and mood. These all sound very similar to debuffs induced by curses and potions.” Cain suggested, prompting Robin away from her wandering thoughts.

As ridiculous as it sounded, curing mental health with a potion; Cain's hypothesis could very much be plausible. However, Robin lacked the ability to scan another’s status even as their owner and required the other party's consensus, so knowing which debuff was difficult.

Skepticism fixed its way on her face. Using status potions as the one time cure for mental health seemed to denounce mental health. It did not sound at all logical, but it was worth a try.

Her brows furrowed and she rubbed her chin,“I think you may be onto something. We can test out this hypothesis.” With a light clap of her hands, "Quinn, please bring in each and every potion that has the ability to remove debuffs and Cain please gather all the guests into the courtyard.” finishing her breakfast and making her way out of the room.

Not even twenty minutes later after her breakfast, Cain started to inspect the status of the quivering person in front of him. Cain’s imposing aura caused the slave to visibly shrink back, allowing Robin to take the advantage to reassure the terrified slave.

“Be at ease. He will not hurt you or anyone here. I will give you my word,” assured Robin. At her words, the fear lessened but remained visible when suspicion reflected in the slave's eyes.

“Master, she suffers from trauma most likely from her previous master. I believe this may be a sign of PTSD caused by the physical abuse of various kinds. The debuff will drain the user of mana over time and eventually their health while creating nightmares as well as hallucinations.” Cain reported. He quickly glanced over where Quinn stood, nodding to her to bring over the potion.

He uncorked the potion and passed it to the young female slave, not forgetting to smile. The smile managed to successfully cause the young female to blush, and also made her more susceptible to accepting the unknown potion.

The thought of “curing” mental illness with a potion seemed outright ridiculous and illogical. However, Robin had to remind herself she was no longer on Earth, where most of the common diseases back on Earth may not even exist. Judging by the nearby town's inhabitants, most of them did not show signs being ridden with diseases or desperately malnourished. Maybe the mana flowing through their veins acted as some sort of guard against these small microorganisms.

Robin could always test this with some mice around the local area, and retrieve harmful bacteria from animal feces. But that was also time-consuming and did not occupy the top her to-do list, and the last problem she needed was assuming theories without actually testing them. She lacked basic questions, more like inconspicuous question such as why are plants not green but rather violet, why is the average lifespan longer than 60 when the nearest inhabitants do not have a decent lavatory.

A dark strand fell in front of her face, before being brushed aside a burning frustration gnawing at her. For now, Robin stood at the sidelines, crossing her arms over her chest spectating for any physical changes appearing on the female slave.

“I-I? Something happened. I feel different as my head is cleared up,” said the young slave touching her head. Her eyes widened visibly shocked at what had transpired before her.

“How do you feel?” asked Robin. She uncrossed her arms leaning forward to take a better look. The dark under bags of her eyes seemed to be gone and her complexion seemed visible clearer compared to the ghastly paleness. In conclusion, the slave looked healthier than even herself.

Even if the potion did work, it was highly likely the young girl would need to take more than just one pot and weekly therapy session.

Her lips trembled to utter a word. “I-I don’t k-know how to d-describe it…” she softly spoke. The girl toyed with her fingers afraid to make eye contact. “I feel as though a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders.”

Robin nodded. “Cain, I think you may have to hold a therapy session for all of them even if they took the potion. Make them take the potion again next week and start weekly therapy sessions for all of them. You can group them up depending on their conditions and rotate them around through the weeks to ease up your workload.

"Conditions like depression, PTSD, and anxiety are nearly impossible to fix in just a day. They take time, and if those conditions start emerging again, it’ll be more difficult to fix in the future,” explained Robin. But still…

What the fuck!

She looked at the empty bottle, her eyes narrowing just slightly, mouth slightly agape in shock. The event that had transpired seemed like it was a fake infomercial about an equally fake miracle drug to help dissolve body fat. It scared Robin on how effective these potions were, nearly impossible for her to stomach. However...

Just maybe...

The empty glass bottle shined under the light and found herself clenching the neck of the bottle in a chokehold.

Could this also?

She shook her head stopping at the threshold to where her mind may have wandered. This suffering of hers is something she had to conquer herself, even if it killed her. It was too easy, all too easy to be true, a joke perhaps.

The hold on the bottle lessened and handed the bottle to Quinn.

Stupid. Idiot!

"Cain, please record any unusual changes or symptoms for each and everyone who takes the status removal potion." She ordered before huffing. There was no possible way one potion could act as a miracle drug for mental illness unless it came with undesirable consequences. She nearly fell into the temptation too without knowing what the consequences were.

While it became harder to deny magic as a miracle too, not everything can be guaranteed or be place the utmost hope into magic. Robin hoped not to depend too much on magic, much how humans had depended heavily on fossil fuels. She wasn't well informed about magic and its properties explained in books were vague in regards to their makeup. She could only conclude that this world had yet to fully understand its basic foundation, much like how Earth's scientist knew more about outer-space than the ocean floor.

She walked down the halls with Quinn tagging behind her. Like a secretary, Quinn carried a clipboard that had a few basic blueprints for her Robin’s next plan.

“I’ve formed multiple landmarks surrounding the castle, Master. The first landmark we will be traveling to is near the bank of the river.”

They took a sharp turn and arrived at the left wing of the castle. Each wing had their own garden, and Robin would eventually turn them into experimental greenhouses for cultivating cash crops, on a later date. For now, she was to meet with another mage who Quinn had referred to as Blair, their future botanist.

They arrived in the west wing of the garden, identical to the east wing with Blair awaiting them. What stood out most of the fellow mage was her pointy ears poking through her emerald colored hair enough to camouflage within the sea of trees if ever needed and ashy grey eyes. Her height was comparable and gave off a scholarly look dressed in very long modest robes, in contrast to Quinn's more revealing dresses.

“Master, I am humbled to be in your service,” Blair curtseyed, her eyes brightened upon meeting her.

Robin nodded, unsure how to reply and walked into the magic formation. Her eyes widened upon remembering the most important item.

Shit, I forgot…

Before uttering another word, the trainwreck of pain crashed into her with the little breakfast consumed rising up from her throat.

Upon noticing the color draining from her face, Quinn handed the potion to Robin to which she downed like it was an alcoholic shot.

How stupid of her to forget the one thing necessary to safely travel without having to vomit to death.

After taking the last gulp, she handed the glass bottle back to Quinn and surveyed the surroundings. The streaming river provided a cool breeze against the searing heat of the sun. The crystal-clear water gleamed brilliantly as the light reflected across the surface of the river. She could even see a few unusual fish swimming around creating more ripples.

Freshwater rivers meant a good sign of cultivating farms to sustain a large population. The history of rivers trailed back to why hunter-gatherers had stopped becoming hunter-gatherers in the first place. Without worrying about tracking down their source of food every day, domesticating animals and crops prevented hunger and provided culturally significant art to flourish.

“Master, according to the scouts, the soil deposits near the river is highly packed in nutrients and suitable for cultivating a variety of plants,” Quinn reported, the clipboard in her hands had appeared from a vortex.

“That’s great news. I’ll have Blair take control over the area so that she can grow all kinds of cash crops and food for the country.”

Robin walked around the river bank, watching the abundant amount of red scaled fish going about their day. Since the river was untouched by humans, it remained its natural and clean ecosystem. Tall trees and long grass stretched across the river bank and Robin hesitated to excavate the area. The trees provided shade away from the sun, and helped prevent the river from drying up during times of drought; it also provided a small niche of a variety of animals.

I may have to use this amount of resource sparingly otherwise, depletion of these fish will be too fast for a growing population.

Human population in general grew exponentially. That was a fact Robin knew very well and at some point, overuse of resources may create a web of future complications, hindering further progress. Before she could touch any of these natural resources, she had to find alternatives to prevent a food crisis from happening. After all, a large population meant a large labor force and preventive care for the fragile nature of how the future may take hold.

Instead, Robin decided to preserve the river and the mineral-rich water it provided in reasonable amounts for the large plantations. But before she planned to create the large plantation she needed to explain to Blair about genetically modifying a few plants.

In her mind, genetically modified plants would be the first step in an accessible food source and strong iron link forming as the foundation of a proper machination in population control of all aspects. With that checked off, there would be more free time to worry about other re-occurring problems.

In short, before Robin could begin conducting a large-scale plantation, the acres of land had to be used the most effectively. For example, if Robin were to cultivate non-GMO wheat on one-acre long farmland (half the size of a soccer field) the yield may probably be less than 6000 pounds. However, if she were to plant modified wheat, the yield would be twice as much and required a shorter amount of time. She could use leftover wheat to feed the livestock, making the net amount of food to be more than what she could have previously had. It was why altering the staple crops was the highest importance.

Plant rotations were also another obstacle and soil erosion, but with Blair's affinity towards earth magic, it not be much of a problem. Robin sighed realizing multiple little but important factors that contributed to the working cogs of a large machine.

While pondering over a multitude of ideas, Quinn led Robin to a large tree where a desk and chair had been set up. It was odd seeing such detailed desk and chair in the middle of the wilderness but nonetheless thanked Quinn for her aid. She quickly drew a sketch of how a greenhouse would look, a bit crappy but after she explained the purpose of it, they mostly got the gist of it.

“The glass allows the sunlight to go through and absorbed by the plants afterward, the air inside the glass house becomes warm because the glass keeps heat inside. Of course, this would also provide insulation for the plants in cold weathers especially winter.” She explained, drawing how the greenhouse was supposed to work on another paper. "These greenhouses will be the subject of experiments, and the land," Robin pointed towards the overgrown grass and trees, "will be cleared for large plantations."

“Oh, I see!” exclaimed Blair. Her eyes shone with excitement upon discovering such unique ways to cultivate plants. Robin merely smiled at her before moving onto the next topic.

“I also want to genetically modify a few of these plants,” she wrote down the list of cash crops and showed it to both of them. “I know this may sound like a difficult task, but figuring you have a high affinity towards nature or general earth magic, I was hoping you could use your magic to somehow alter plants. For example, some plants yield a higher number of fruits, are more resistant to diseases, and mature within a short time. If you can find a way to fulfill all three requirements, it will greatly help.”

Blair nodded and held the list of plants her Master wanted her to experiment. They included cacao beans, grapes, tea leaves, coffee beans, and wheat.

“May I ask Master why she needs these crops so that I can alter them to your preferred taste?” Blair earnestly asked.

It made sense to explain what Robin would have in store for each crop. If explaining it to Blair helped create an outline of how the plant should be grown, Robin would gladly explain each commodity for her. She was glad Blair asked such question or else the process may have taken longer without a solid idea to direct her.

Taking out a new sheet of paper, Robin went over each crop starting with cacao bean.

Cacao beans allowed chocolate to be manufactured as an expensive commodity, in the case where this world has yet to discover. Cacao beans were not restrained to just only chocolate but could be used in a variety of pastries and desserts.

Grapes would obviously allow the procedure of wine and disgusting raisins, but mostly for fine wine targeted to high ranking nobles.

As for the coffee bean and tea leaves, they served as beverage drinks much like how tea became England's most quintessential drink and symbol of royalty after its rough adoption. If Robin were to successfully release such invaluable goods, there was a high possibility for tea and coffee to be integrated into their culture and habits. These commodities were nearly invaluable and even wars, empires, and colonies were erected because of some of these commodities. They were the pleasure houses of delicacy, a strong narcotic far more potent than opium or any narcotic. It was only time until she introduced it to them.

A small smile emerged from her lips. This felt so much better than trying to come up with an original project design without having to check through every lawsuit and companies that had already patented the design. Well, a few alterations would avoid some pesky lawsuits, but in such primitive age, new ideas such as a pen were revolutionary.

Finally, she moved onto wheat where it was simply used to support a growing population as well as a way to feed cattle for their meat, milk, and offsprings. Corn could be used too, but she decided to put it off for another time.

She handed the paper to Blair before quickly heading to her next destination: the mountainside.