As Charlotte looked around in bewilderment, a voice came from across the long table, sounding as though it originated somewhere far away, yet warm and mildly enthusiastic. "Welcome, welcome. It seems we have another new member at this gathering."
It was Loenese, with remarkably standard pronunciation-Charlotte instinctively looked toward the voice.
The figure was concealed in gray mist. His silhouette suggested a slender man wearing a shirt, and she could just make out black hair, but every other detail was obscured.
As he spoke, the two other men seated beside him, as well as the woman with long golden hair on Charlotte's left, turned their gazes toward her in succession.
They seem to know one another already. Am I the only "stranger"? But what is this place? I was at home just now. I only picked up that Ancient Candlestick and played with it for a while, wondering whether I should sell it again, and then I found myself here in a daze- Charlotte forced herself to remain calm. Rather than speak, she lowered her gaze to examine herself.
She was still wearing the long house dress she had worn while resting that afternoon, though only its outline showed through the gray fog. Her hands and body looked perfectly normal, but both the sensation of sitting in the chair and the feeling of contact between different parts of her body were extremely dulled, as though she were in a dream.
Could this really be some strange dream? Or has my spirit left my body? Whatever the reason, bringing me and the others into this mysterious space might be something only a High Sequence Beyonder could do-
At that thought, Charlotte stole a glance toward the end of the long table. A figure sat quietly in a high-backed chair, draped in