Can't find Hammond during "Following the Thread" after completing "Flesh for Sale" first

[guo241024]

I've roamed the Skellige isles and killed the pirates in Faroe, freeing the captives. Now it's a normal village.
Then I start the "Following the Thread" quest with Lambert and look for this Hammond pirate guy, I don't see him in the village. I guess he is dead already?

I have read that completing "Following the Thread" quest first would fail the "Flesh for Sale", but what about the opposite? I read discussions and went to talk to an Crate about him, without in-game prompt whatsoever, and after returning to the village I still don't see him.

ALSO, I previously delivered a letter to a blacksmith at Kaer Trolde, he got so devastated he wouldn't talk to me anymore, before I could play gwent with him. Does that mean I won't be able to finish the gwent collection quest? I played gwent with the armorer next to him.