"There are degrees of effectiveness," Ishiah replies, slightly irate but doing his best to keep that volatile temper under control, because if there's anyone who deserves to be the target of his fury, it certainly isn't this girl, thin and quiet and hardly a ripple in the island's greater function. As far as he's concerned, she's a child, and Ishiah makes a habit of putting forth special effort for children. They need examples, they need to be protected, they don't need to be yelled at and scolded incomprehensibly. But all that energy needs to go somewhere, and so he picks up that axe and sends it chopping through another thick bamboo stalk, felling it with that blow alone.

"Short of someone knocking me unconscious, which may cause greater and lasting harm of a sort I can't afford, this may be the best option. If you have a different opinion, you are free to share."

He still didn't know why she was there, either, a fact which actually afforded him some amount of distraction as well, the flush on his cheeks settling at a paler tone.