Summer was still fresh on the calendar.
Having set work on perfecting the lycanthropy cure formula in motion, Mavrick once more turned his attention to the developing affairs of the world.
Earlier, Michael had suggested paying a visit to the old woman, so that was his first stop. There, he was met by a whole panel of people from the country, the royal family, the British government, political circles, and some of the country's leading business owners, all gathered for a more, how to put it, "off-the-record" sort of discussion.
This wasn't the Middle Ages, after all. Even if you were the king of a nation, the days when a ruler could keep every interest within their own grasp were long gone. If the royals wanted to remain comfortably seated in power, they had to share, and Mavrick suspected this was simply a meeting the old woman had no choice but to arrange.
But… what did any of that have to do with him? As long as they knew where the red lines were, Mavrick couldn't care less how the benefits were divided, or among how many parties.
For instance, one of the things already promised to the country was the establishment of a grand hospital, alongside a commercial centre specialising in medicinal elixirs and therapeutic remedies. Not that magical hospitals would not appear in other parts of the world, but the one to be established in Britain will hold a position of particular prominence, because it will be actively promoted by the magical world as the largest and most comprehensive institution of its kind.
The same naturally applies to the commercial centre, which, as its name implies, will be serving as the primary hub, with branches eventually being established across the world.
And as the host, though in reality because Mavrick had pulled a few strings behind the scenes, Britain would naturally receive a predetermined share of the revenue generated by these ventures. No exaggeration, even the most conservative projections put the potential economic returns in the astronomical range, precisely why all the hyenas and vultures lurking had pushed the Queen into compromising and arranging a meeting like this.
The arrangement was more or less as follows: the royal family would receive a share, the largest portion would naturally go to the state, and the remainder would be divided among the businesses.
Strictly speaking, Mavrick's presence was not even necessary. The meeting was, after all, about deciding how to divide the share Britain was already promised, something they could have settled among themselves. But the magical world, and Mavrick himself, was not quite like the other parties they were accustomed to dealing with.
Or, put more simply, they didn't want to risk pissing off the Wizards. What they were really doing was presenting their proposed arrangement, making sure Mavrick had no objections, and quietly asking for his approval before they went ahead with it.
As a matter of fact, Mavrick preferred the arrangement this way. After all, when the stakes are spread among enough people, everyone involved has something to lose, making it far less likely that some idiot will do something reckless and jeopardize the whole thing. Even if problems arise later, the magical world won't need to intervene. The shareholders will have every incentive to deal with them themselves long before matters ever reach that point.
Interests, ah no, financial matters aside, Mavrick was also brought up to date on how the world, particularly Britain, was adapting to the developing reality. Newspaper and television campaigns were being carried out to raise public awareness. Hotlines had also been established for citizens to ask questions directly, while, through coordination with the country's Magical government, witches and wizards were personally involved in answering them.
Apparently, Minister Greengrass had even been making the rounds on talk shows. Who would have guessed?
Needless to say, things seemed to be moving pretty smoothly, at least on the surface. The world hadn't descended into complete chaos, there were no riots, no masses of people taking to the streets and demanding explanations from their governments. Why would they, after all, they were already getting the answers before they even had a chance to ask the questions.
After Buckingham Palace, Mavrick then turned his attention more local. Change was sweeping through the Muggle world, forcing it to adapt, and the magical world was facing much the same reality.
The ICW, in particular, had been anything but idle since. The chamber was being called into session each day, with one legislative matter after another being brought before the council as they went through existing statutes and worked out what needed to be amended, replaced, or introduced anew.
The Speakers, meanwhile, divided the responsibility between themselves, rotating who presided over the sessions every other day. Everyone had taken their turn by now, everyone except Mavrick himself. Even old Dumbles had stepped up the day after the students were sent home.
As a result, the moment Mavrick showed his face, that responsibility was promptly dumped on him.
It was a rather novel experience. In his previous life, and then after transmigrating into this one, he never once imagined that he would someday end up chairing a parliament.
The subject of debate that particular day was an amendment to Federation law, specifically the regulations governing the employment of witches and wizards by Muggle authorities, and whether those provisions should now be extended to private-sector organisations as well. Alongside that came the question of what forms of magic could be authorised in such workplaces, and under what circumstances and restrictions its use would be permitted.
Anyways, he wanted nothing to do with that chair ever again.
A separate assembly was also held later that day, with only the seven Archmages in attendance.
It was likewise about the developing situation of the world, and then in addition, what immediate action was required of them both collectively and individually to help steer its course. When all was said and done, they were, after all, the ones actually setting the direction for the said developments forward. In other words, the real decision-makers.
Although Mavrick was the one who orchestrated this entire upheaval, that didn't mean he could dictate how everything moved forward. Not unless he wanted to flex his muscles and turn himself into a tyrant, which, in all honesty, sounded more exhausting than it was worth.
He much preferred things the way it was playing out, taking one step at a time and handling matters "diplomatically." If nothing else, it wasn't boring, and there was something rather interesting about being able to sit back and see where all of this would eventually lead.
On that note, Mavrick was also considering bringing the others into the Mars project eventually. He could certainly use their help. Stark had already given him a rough outline of the terraforming process, and it involved no small amount of magical heavy lifting, moving certain things from one planet to another, or in Stark's words, "borrowing resources."
Mavrick, of course, could handle the work himself, but there was only so much one person could do at a time. If he wanted to speed up certain stages of the project, then having six more pairs of arms pitching in could make a considerable difference.
But that's a matter for later, at least not for the next couple of years. The Mars project had barely begun, the planetary research was still in its infancy. Besides, it had only been a few weeks since old man Zhang and Matheus Guimarães became acquainted with him. Even Takamura was not someone Mavrick knew well enough yet to share everything with.
Anyway, another matter discussed between the seven of them concerned the two regions that had now been officially allocated to the wizarding world. Although, perhaps that was not quite the right way to put it.
The magical community already had its own lands and properties scattered across countries all over the world. They simply existed separately from the Muggle population, hidden away behind wards, enchantments, and other magical means, and there was no plan to change that either. Just because the Statute of Secrecy was no longer in place did not mean the magical world had to change completely.
On the other hand, those two regions were special because they would become the first places in the world where magic could be openly seen by anyone, Muggles included. The plan was to place very few restrictions on how witches and wizards could use their abilities, effectively turning the regions into something resembling magical utopias.
High-rise buildings, enchanted machines, witches and wizards flying overhead, and a steady stream of traffic moving through the streets, enchanted cars, carriages pulled by magical creatures, perhaps even a Thestral or two.
Once the project was finished and people had settled in, stepping into either of these places would be like stepping into a city from the future, only with fantasy woven into every corner. Mavrick could already see the two lands becoming some of the, if not the most desirable destinations in the world, attracting visitors whether they came from the magical or Muggle side.
But that's still a little way into the future, though not nearly as far as one might think. With magic at the disposal and enough funding to bring an entire city to life, getting the project completed within a couple of years would hardly be an impossible task.
For the moment, their discussions were mostly about the design, with each of them putting forward their own ideas and Mavrick doing much the same.
Once again, Mavrick showed the old fogies a thing or two about the power of imagination. Cough, it certainly helped that he had read enough fantasy novels featuring magical cities to fill several libraries.
Then, snipping a little from here and borrowing a little from there, suffice it to say, Mavrick's ideas were met with considerable enthusiasm, very well received.
---
The world continued to adjust to the new reality, with governments adapting their policies and people gradually finding their place in it. By all outward appearances, things were proceeding as expected, but appearances can also be quite misleading.
Trouble was already brewing beneath the surface, it was only because governments were prepared enough that nothing seemed to be falling out of line.
Seemed.
While efforts were being made to maintain order, there were just as many working quietly to undermine it. After all, no matter how promising a notion, vision, or initiative might be, it was never going to make everyone happy.
One thing many people were eagerly awaiting was the eventual opening of magical hospitals. Around the world, countless people were waiting for miracles, and in a world that seemed to have suffered from their lack for so long, those who had been given little hope of survival were perhaps the ones waiting for them the most.
But at the same time, these miracles were also bound to interfere with the interests of certain people. Powerful, perhaps not in the literal sense, but people who could very easily ruin or outright destroy an ordinary person's life with a single word.
They were the pharmaceutical magnates, tycoons, moguls, whatever you want to call them.
They included some of the wealthiest people in the world, having built vast financial empires solely around medicine and pharmaceuticals. And the most profitable "products" they sell were medicines that people were required to take indefinitely, thus creating a steady stream of income from patients who had little choice but to keep paying for them.
And when something suddenly came along that could render their "products" unnecessary, well, it goes without saying how they would feel about that.
That said, coming out in the open and campaigning directly against it would also be stupid. Especially now, with the whole world watching closely for any kind of threat that could upset the fragile balance of peace.
So instead, they resorted to underhanded tactics, quietly encouraging sneering campaigns, slipping hush money to grassroots groups and local authorities, and whatever else they could manage, while the people actually pulling the strings remained safely out of sight.
Many private media companies have already started speaking against the idea of magical hospitals, starting off subtly by questioning their reliability and ethics, some going as far as bringing religion into the argument and calling the whole idea blasphemous.
But these so-called underhanded tactics and hidden campaigns, no matter how carefully they were disguised as coincidence, were not enough to fooling everyone. Such campaigns weren't anything particularly new either.
The World Security Council had already taken notice of the matter, bringing it before the wider UN and, eventually, the leaders of both worlds.
The same subject was also discussed during the Archmages' meeting, and when it came to dealing with the matter, Mavrick took it upon himself to handle it.
He had the perfect partner in mind, a certain soldier who's been short on exercise for the past couple of years. A warning should suffice at first, but if that didn't get the message across, then old Bucky might have to start pulling triggers once again.
---
August, 1995.
The days seemed to blur past far quicker than they did during previous summer holidays.
Mavrick had one particularly interesting meeting on his schedule today. Apparently, a certain billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, no wait, that last part should still be pending, had been pestering the higher-ups of Mavrick's own tech company, insisting that he wanted a meeting.
As for what he wants, Mavrick honestly hasn't the faintest clue.
But it ought to be interesting, because he planned to take along a certain fellow by the name of Robert Downey Jr. as well, along with his wife, of course.
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