By evening, the group of young women had finally packed their luggage and arrived at the city gate, but due to the late hour, the gate was already closed.
The gate guards were on the city wall, and even if the young woman was anxious enough to offer a tip to open the gate, she couldn't find a way to reach them.
Afterward, she rushed to the port, hoping to find a few ships still working, but the orthodox shipowners were in the city participating in protests.
The Catholic shipowners, seeing the unfavorable situation, had already sailed their ships out of the city.
Even the slave traders were resting in the city; at this time, the vast Kaffa port surprisingly didn't have a single ship that could carry passengers.
Finally, the group of young women had no choice but to return to the inn dejectedly and begin preparing for self-defense.
While the young woman was busy looking for a way out of the city, Kaffa citizens began to approach the Kaffa Consulate, an action that finally alerted the Kaffa management.
Although Paolo Grimaldi's abilities were mediocre, with things escalating to this point, he finally reacted and convened the Kaffa high-ranking officials to discuss countermeasures.
Facing the orthodox citizens who were about to approach the Consulate, the high-ranking officials completely failed to reach a consensus.
One faction, led by Melo, advocated for ruthless suppression, while Guney's faction tried to negotiate with them to resolve the dispute.
Grimaldi, with a headache, mediated between the two factions, and ultimately, with the Kaffa Consul's favoritism, the peace talks faction gained the upper hand.
However, since the citizens had already attacked the soldiers, Melo began to try and mobilize the army, preparing for any eventuality.
After the Kaffa Consulate released a signal that the issue could be resolved peacefully, the citizens cheered, believing they had secured their rights.
However, the leading representatives of public opinion became worried, as they knew this was only the first step.
Soon, the populace elected the young Isaac Arno and several other public opinion representatives as envoys for negotiations to enter the Kaffa Consulate.
Incidentally, Arno was not only the youngest son of a respected wealthy merchant in Kaffa but also of Goth descent.
Upon entering the Kaffa Consulate, the public opinion representatives, led by Arno, formally presented three requests to the Kaffa high-ranking officials.
Facing the citizens' requests, Grimaldi and others readily agreed to the first two, but regarding the most practical third request, they either hesitated or were unyielding, in any case, they did not agree.
This was actually very practical, because due to the Tatars' plundering this autumn, all of Kaffa had very little stored grain.
The grain in the granaries was from previous years' stock and recently shipped from the mainland; although there was some, it wasn't much.
If it were distributed to the Eastern Orthodox, how could the high-ranking officials continue to live the leisurely life they had before?
And lowering taxes? Lowering taxes without a decree from the mainland? Grimaldi and his colleagues dared not joke with their future.
Seeing that they remained unmoved no matter what, the public opinion representatives showed a hint of anger, but out of the hope that still lingered in their hearts, they continued to humbly beg the high-ranking officials to approve their last request.
However, this only made the Liguria and stubborn factions among the high-ranking officials secretly mock them.
As the two sides remained in a stalemate, they gradually lost patience.
Melo, with his black curly hair, was the first to lash out, saying, "Haven't you had enough, rabble! You should all return to where you belong right now!"
The word "rabble" completely ignited the public opinion representatives present.
Arno and his colleagues' anger finally erupted completely, "We are the public opinion representatives of the Kaffa people, we are not rabble!"
"Public opinion representatives, ha, what a joke, you are just the ringleaders of a mob of heretics," Melo roared angrily.
"No, we are public opinion representatives; we represent over ninety percent of Kaffa's Eastern Orthodox.
We represent not only the citizens exploited by you but also the farmers harmed by your incompetence and cruelty!
Our three requests here are also an act in accordance with the decisions of the majority of people."
"Listen, this is none of our business.
Our authority to govern here is granted by the Governor's Office, recognized by the Lord, sacred and supreme," Grimaldi, who had been silent until now, finally spoke.
"Your governing authority is sacred and supreme? What a joke!
You suppress our rights, secretly ban orthodox scriptures, your existence is evil, you are just a group of foreign occupiers!
As an orthodox Greek, what do you think we should do? Continue to endure you for two hundred years? Get out of our land!"
Arno's emotions completely spiraled out of control; he angrily accused the Genoa officials in front of him.
As he said these things, no one noticed that Gregory Giunio, among the Genoa officials, had his right hand inserted into his pocket, seemingly trembling from exertion.
"Enough, you ungrateful wretches, without us Genoa, your Kaffa would still just be a small fishing village under the Golden Horde.
The fact that you can cause trouble here is precisely because of our Genoa's benevolence!" Melo retorted arrogantly.
"Benevolence, meaning operating Kaffa as a port for selling Eastern Orthodox, meaning the exorbitant taxes collected at all times, meaning your inaction when the Tatars plundered?
It's been two hundred years, and Kaffa has not had a single Eastern Orthodox official recognized by the Genoa authorities.
I would rather wear a muslim turban than a Catholic pointed hat!
And gratitude? You should at least have some shame!" an elderly public opinion representative next to Arno cursed angrily.
As soon as these words were uttered, there was an uproar, and the scene immediately became chaotic.
Everyone present began to engage in free-for-all fighting; if an outsider had broken in, they would probably have thought there was an unrestricted fighting championship going on.
Finally, the Greek-descended officials led by Guney forcibly separated the two, barely managing to calm both sides down.
What the public opinion representatives who came for negotiations ultimately received was only his reply: "Please go back, you will not get any desired results here."
With the public opinion representatives returning empty-handed, and after learning of the Kaffa high-ranking officials' attitude, the anger of the Eastern Orthodox populace waiting outside the Kaffa Consulate for the results was completely ignited.
Their demands became extremely radical, quickly escalating from the initial three requests directly to secession from Genoa's colonial rule.
All sorts of people mixed in, some with ideals, some opportunists, some with premeditated plans, but they all took action for the future they pursued.
After the public opinion representatives left, the high-ranking officials inside the Kaffa Consulate reflected carefully, then looked at the behavior of the populace outside, gradually realizing the consequences of their arrogant actions.
The hardline faction, led by Melo, was worried and prepared to mobilize all available troops to brutally suppress the Eastern Orthodox populace outside.
However, Guney had a different opinion at this time.
He believed that even in this situation, these "rabble" should still be given a final "mercy."
"Just wait one night and see; if they remain stubborn, then we will slaughter them.
Consider it our last chance to them; in any case, our army is well-equipped and well-trained.
No matter what, these rabble cannot overturn the status quo."
He was full of confidence in the army's strength, and even Melo was deeply convinced.
Ultimately, the Kaffa high-ranking officials decided to wait one more night, giving the populace outside, who were starting to act with torches, one last chance.