There were some in this world that did not agree with the idea of training children from a young age to be soldiers; these were not sentiments that Houren agreed with. There was nothing wrong with educating children as to the benefits of being fit for combat at all times. There was no country that would be eternally free from war, and just in case, it was best if every citizen was capable of going from civilian to combatant with a snap of the fingers. Still, while he did not agree with the view that children should be sheltered from the realities of the world, he did understand where those people were coming from; not everyone was fit to be a soldier, and not every person could keep up with the physical and mental demands of soldiership, and that had nothing to do with age. The kids' general instructor had been ill today, but according to what he had been told, Armin had still tried to leave his home in order to teach his class. It was admirable of him, Houren thought, but in the end, his health had to take precedence over his vocation, at least in this one case.

By the time the Fairy Tail mage had reached the park, the children, perhaps slightly over two dozen of them, had already gathered and were standing at attention awaiting him. It seemed like they were well informed, and already knew that he would be the one to take over their training today. It melted Houren's heart to see such disciplined youngsters in this day and age, but he addressed them as though he were their commanding officer, in the stern tone that they would have expected from a drill sergeant or sergeant major. "Why don't I assess your fitness first, boys? Come, let's go for a run around the park; expect to be punished if you can't keep up with me for the next 6km!" he began to pace away from them without warning, and the children quickly followed him. It was not advisable to run without properly warming up beforehand, but then again, you never knew when you'd need to to start sprinting in the midst of battle.

Every minute or so, when Houren looked back to see how his young charges were doing, he noticed that they were quickly getting further and further behind; it was a pitiful sight, to the point that the Fairy Tail mage decided to cut their run short to 4km. None of them were able to outpace him, and only a handful were able to barely keep up, finishing a minute or so after him. He and the more physically fit children began to do some cool down exercises as they awaited the arrival of the rest, who eventually joined up with them. After a short roll call, he decided to move onto the next activity. All in all, he was actually somewhat impressed with this small platoon of young boys, as they had managed to finish a run the average person would have struggled in, despite being adolescents. However, it was still too early to praise them, lest their egos explode in a flurry of hormones and testosterone.

"I cut the distance for you guys today, so I'm going to up the static training. I want to see 200 push ups, 200 sit ups and 150 pull ups from each and every one of you today. Support each other if you have to do. I don't care about how fast you can do it, just make sure it gets done."

Truly, this was not the manner of speaking that Houren was used to, but he couldn't say that he disliked it. The young boys hung onto his every word, and it was obvious to him that they were trying their best to please him. Although Armin was probably just as tough an instructor as he was, Houren was fairly sure that the other young man was a softie at heart and probably rewarded his soldiers well when they managed to exceed his expectations. It was a good thing, really, as there was nothing better for a soldier's morale than the knowledge that there was actually a light at the end of the tunnel. There was a big difference between the fittest child in the platoon, and the least fit, but the determination was there with them all. Houren decided to shout at them while they did their sets, as a means of motivation. He walked over to a boy who was just hanging from the pull up bar, complaining that he was unable to carry himself up any further. Apparently, he was attempting his 130th pull up.

"Are you tired, boy? So what? Does that mean all your friends aren't tired? Everyone is suffering, while you're taking your own sweet time. You should be better than this," Houren's well meaning abuse actually encouraged the boy, and he actually ended up exceeding 150 pull ups, doing about 163 before dropping to the floor; he was the 11th boy to finish all of the sets. It was unsightly for a soldier to be sprawled on the ground, panting for breath like that, but he decided to allow it. After the training was finishing, he had all the young boys stand to attention once again before formally dismissing them. He hadn't even asked them to assist him in cleaning up, perhaps that was proof that Houren was too soft to be an effective drill leader. Still, he felt like he had taught the children something today. Satisfied with his work, at the very least, Houren headed over to Armin's house and knocked on the door.

The man himself opened the door, and while he was obviously sick with a blanket wrapped around him, Houren knew that he was on his way to recovering. After all, he had apparently been unable to move a muscle at all earlier so this was definitely an improvement. He gave Armin the report on his young platoon's development, received his payment and was on his way.

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