Cassius crossed his arms, his jaw set in a hard line. "Are you not?"
"No," Lucius replied flatly. "I have decided that these fifty men will be transferred into a newly created division. They are going to become the Inspectores."
Confusion rippled through the triclinium.
The Latin word simply meant ’observers’ or ’overseers,’ but Lucius’s tone implied something much more structured.
Before Cassius could launch into another tirade, Lucius reached into his satchel and began sliding papyrus scrolls across the table.
As Decimus, Titus, and Valerius unrolled the documents, their eyes widened in disbelief.
"As you can see," Lucius explained, pacing slowly behind his chair. "This document outlines the foundation of the Department of Quality and Standardization. It will operate entirely outside the control of the miners or the blacksmiths. The temporary Chief Inspector of this division will be Hrorek."
All eyes instantly snapped to the lean Germanic slave sitting quietly near the end of the table.
Hrorek blinked, genuinely startled by the sound of his own name.
Lucius continued, tapping the flowchart on the table. "Their sole purpose is to observe, measure, and enforce the system. They will stand at the intersections and direct the wheelbarrows to prevent collisions. They will inspect the clay molds for hairline fractures before the liquid steel is poured. I find these older veterans perfectly suited for this."
Cassius stared at the documents. He slowly nodded.
Lucius looked around the room. "Are there any objections to this restructuring?"
No one dared speak.
"Excellent. The Inspectores are established today," Lucius declared. "There will be a designated inspector stationed at every critical juncture of the forge, and they answer only to Hrorek. Now, I am passing out the second mandate."
Lucius produced a thinner stack of scrolls, tossing them onto the center of the table.
"This is the curriculum for the Schola Processus."
The unfamiliar phrasing twisted Decimus’s face in confusion. "A school, Dominus?"
"A training facility," Lucius corrected. "A designated shed on the eastern ridge where all future inspectors and squad leaders will be trained before they ever step foot on the factory floor. It will instruct them in the laws of our workflow and basic literacy and numeracy. Father, you will need to procure a tutor from the city who knows how to keep his mouth shut."
Cassius balked. "A tutor? For slaves and iron-workers?"
Lucius met his father’s gaze. "It is the greatest investment we will ever make. A strong slave can use a hammer to break a ruined piece of slag, but only a literate inspector who can read a temperature chart can prevent the steel from being ruined in the first place."
Lucius turned his gaze toward the Germanic slave. "Hrorek. You will also serve as the temporary head of this training facility."
Hrorek swallowed hard. The responsibility was terrifying. He knew nothing of Roman letters or engineering mathematics.
Despite the sweat forming on his brow, Hrorek possessed the survival instincts of a frontier survivor.
He ground his teeth together, stood up from his chair, and slammed his fist against his chest.
"I will not fail the fire, Dominus. I will do as you command," Hrorek promised.
Lucius walked around the table and stopped behind the Germanic slave. He reached out and firmly gripped Hrorek’s shoulder.
As he did, he began to speak in low tones, giving the barbarian a blistering crash course in the fundamentals of statistical quality control, tolerance deviations, and standardized shift rotations.
Hrorek’s head spun as the alienconcepts flooded his mind, but he clung to the core principles with focus.
"Draft a preliminary schedule for the shift transitions and have it on my desk by tomorrow evening," Lucius ordered.
"It will be done, Dominus," Hrorek replied.
Lucius returned to his chair. He clapped his hands together.
"Excellent. Now, on to the next objective."
Lucius began unrolling a map of the Gallic border...