'Negary' recognized some of the people already seated at the table and also didn't recognize some of them. What surprised 'Negary' the most was unexpectedly seeing certain people whose presence was actually reasonable.
For example, the Seven Churches had historically always turned down participation in the Mana Banquet.
Although the Great Magus would make sure to send an invitation to each of the Seven Churches every time he hosted a Mana Banquet, they had refused participation each and every single time.
This was because, for the members of the Seven Churches, their powers originated from the very God they worshipped, they didn't care too much about mana. In fact, they considered mana to be blasphemous and wicked; if any mages appeared in other regions, regardless of whether or not they had actually gotten into contact with an Evil God, they would be marked as a wanted criminal.
