Shin Suou

Shin Suou (榛 蘇芳 Shin Suō) is a former official in the Department of the Central Secretariat and is currently a Censorate Official.

Appearance
When he first appears, he is wearing many tanuki-themed accessories including a golden statue, which is the reason that Seiran starts calling him 'Tan-tan'.

Personality & Characteristics
He does not like putting effort into anything and thus is both intrigued and annoyed by Shuurei's continual determination to do her best. However, Tan-tan can clearly perceive a situation's complete context or a person's true character, making him a valuable asset to his department, and he tries to lessen Shuurei's naiveté by showing her the evils of the world.

Plot
From the middle-high class, he proposes to Shuurei under his father's orders despite his lack of personal interest in her.

Tan-tan is roped into the counterfeit paintings investigation by Shuurei and ends up arresting his father, who was used in a larger plot. He saves Shuurei from being fired when Riku Seiga steals her research proposal. Since then, Tan-tan has followed Shuurei and re-entered the persecution department as her assistant.

During the threat of a locust plague, Tan-tan returns to offer his help in solving the crisis. He meets with Ryuuki and states that he is not doing this for him, his emperor, but for Shuurei, his friend. He later accompanies Shuurei to the Hyou Clan.

In the novels it is revealed that Suou enjoys great fame as one of the most successful officers of the Censorate.

Skills & Talents
Though rather lazy and lacking Shuurei's idealistic aspirations, Suou is considerably more perceptive and proves to be an excellent judge of character. Due to his ability to detach himself from situations and is not influenced by Shuurei like her other colleagues and companions, he demonstrates investigative abilities that are recognized as assets within the Censorate. As a result, he is promoted ahead of Shuurei as a Censorate officer.

Shi Seiran
Seiran considers Tan-tan to be a practical influence on Shuurei and is unusually willing to engage him in conversation. Nevertheless, Seiran also likes to pelt Suou with bamboo shoots and make him pay for random purchases, calling him 'saifu #2' (wallet #2, after Shuuei as #1)