If you were rich, then you paid for protection. If you happened to be just a normal citizen or even poor, then there were instances where other people took 'payment' for your 'protection'.
Whether one looked at the world as a bright place where people lived in harmony or a place of strife and competition—both had to admit that there was trouble when one's interests were harmed or interfered by another individual. A great example might have been the Beastfolk Uprising that had taken place several years ago, between what one might call 'demi-human' and humans.
One party desired to be free and left alone, the other wanted them to not be free and thus it was where conflicts both large scale and small scale arose.
This was an almost indisputable fact.
