Mind helping me fix a plot hole?

no tl;dr today guys. so i wasn't expecting to run a game this week because 3 of the players said they couldn't make it, so i didnt plan anything. then everyone showed up, early in fact. fuckme, luckily were in a big city and its downtime so i dont need any massive plots .

BUT along comes one of the players who had agreed to meet a very important NPC to their story, i was supposed to spend some time figuring out who this NPC was and what the objective was for him, but i didnt.

so in an attempt to keep the NPC from saying "Well i didnt plan anything, bye!" i made up some stuff on the fly, which is not my style, I'm very much a planner, at least a basic structure or something.

so the player is searching for his master, a talented blacksmith, who has the ability to craft basically magic guns. he went missing and the player has been trying to follow clues. This NPC is a witch hunter and bought one of these guns from the blacksmith. then told the guy because fuckme why didnt i think this through.

the blacksmith was selling his wares on the side of the road with two unhappy looking people with him in cloaks.

i dont know why this blacksmith would be selling his magic guns on the side of the road.

this happened last night and I'm just now starting to think about how to fix this, this is mainly to get my brain flowing so i can fix this.
(also additionally, why does a witch hunter use fucking magic guns!)

system - modified anima
setting - magic high fantasy continent of anything can happen
character - total stuck up bitch, also uses dual rifles and flies

The guy that sold the guns just acquired them in some way and fences them off, telling wveryone he made them to ward off questions.

Fixin' plotholes is my jam!

>the blacksmith was selling his wares on the side of the road with two unhappy looking people with him in cloaks.
>i dont know why this blacksmith would be selling his magic guns on the side of the road.

Seems like a high quality blacksmith to be doing roadside sales.
If it's possible that the two cloaked individuals are holding him against his will, or otherwise there to enforce his compliance, then the selling of water might be their idea.

Perhaps to earn traveling money?
Perhaps the blacksmith engineered some accident to slow them down that exhausted their funds and, rather than give up or turn back, they stopped and made him peddle the warrs he had with him.
Perhaps the selling of his wares in such a way was also part of his idea, like breadcrumbs or a red flag that nobody immediately helped with.

Any if this fit what's really going on?

thanks guys, i was expecting a negative response, this is very helpful.

and yeah those ideas are really helpful! i was originally thinking of having him held against his will but it seemed odd they would be selling things if he was a prisoner.

Where was the road, because it's perfectly normal for craftsmen to be selling on the road in a town, specially during a market.

>i was originally thinking of having him held against his will but it seemed odd they would be selling things if he was a prisoner.
I mentioned the "ensure his compliance" thing because if you are taking someone prisoner and transporting them, but doing so illegally, you can't just parade him across towns in chains.
Transporting him secretly means keeping him quiet and hidden.
Invisible chains are best.
The guys aren't even likely that high level.
The blacksmith could try to escape or fight them and maybe win, but then the others would still have something over him.
It could be blackmail (heh), or his loved one held in a cell, "the antidote", or a treasured item he needs for some reason.
He obeys and follows and doesn't resist, despite being there against his will.

the road leading into the city, but they were traveling away from he city.

unfortunately this is the only lead the player has, so tracking the blacksmith might be a trouble.

I've started writing a couple ideas on how/where the next clue comes along.

>Fixin' plotholes is my jam!
Any other plot holes out there?

The blacksmith wasn't really selling, he was fulfilling his part of a deal. Those two persons are extremely dangerous and didn't trust the blacksmith, so the trade had to be in public. Next time PC talk to the blacksmith he will be nervous and paranoid in public. The deal was very shady, those guys were part of a city gang.

And well, the witchhunter is kind of a rogue. He is a witchhunter for the privileges, he doesn't care, he is not a fanatic. Also, he has a price tag... you can't trust him.