The youth was named Lynn. He lived in a remote village.
An Old Knight lived here, and the village belonged to him as well.
It was a reward he had received for following a Baron into battle and risking his life to protect him.
Of course, the village was tiny, with only forty households, two hundred people, three hundred mu of land, and a stretch of woods beside a river.
At the level of the Middle Ages, three hundred mu of land could scarcely support forty households.
Thus, nearly half the young people in the village were forced to leave and become mercenaries.
This was precisely a feature of medieval Europe. Many mountain regions produced mercenaries, and they placed considerable importance on their reputation.
They trained elite troops with steady morale. As long as the pay was sufficient, they often would not abandon their employers even when pushed to the brink and suffering heavy casualties.
Some might ask, what was the point of money if they were dead?
Naturally, it would be sent back to the village to support their parents and siblings.
Of course, there were quite a few mercenaries who did not care about their parents, but those who did still made up the majority, at least over half.
Otherwise, there would not be a saying that when an army was away from home, the soldiers' families had to be kept as hostages.
And if a general wanted to attack a city where the soldiers' families lived, the soldiers would often mutiny.
Of course, if you ran out of money and failed to provide rewards according to the contract, they would betray you in minutes.
That was why many Kings who imposed harsh taxes and levies chose mercenaries as their most trusted guards instead of trusting the locals.