Dedicated to the Book Hunter

I'm a thief.

I've never told a single word of the truth.

I'm a liar.

Of course, my companions are just like me.

But I'm a little different from my companions. I can "read."

It's an art of the nobility, but I learned my letters and know how to "read."

I've always kept this secret hidden.

And I've constantly reminded myself never to feel even the slightest curiosity about the "sweets" that can make people sink even deeper into the abyss.

Then, one day, my companions and I committed a terrible sin. We robbed a dead man.

We stripped off the coat he had been wearing to keep warm, and then saw what he had fought to protect until the very last second before the flame of life went out.

It was a book.

"He was a book hunter,"

one of my companions said.

Everyone fled in panic.

But I didn't.

From that book, I learned the true name of "sweets."

They were called "addictive agents."

That was what set me on the path to becoming a book hunter.

But it wasn't until twelve years later that I truly became one.

Story elements: 50% steampunk + 30% Cthulhu + 20% post-apocalyptic reconstruction. The protagonist is the sworn enemy of the nobility. Her true love is books. Extremely Mary Sue. The male lead is absolutely unlikeable. The male and female leads spend almost the entire story fighting each other. This is a war to the death.