Maybe he learned where the eyes were and until the end of the msq he knew he couldn't deal with them so that freed up some time to help you out. I like that he's just roaming around being a badass.

If they stick the gunblade teacher in an ARR area to me it's make the most sense to stick them in Gridania as it's the closest to where they would be coming from. With the wall near by and having had to deal with Ala Mhigo attacking them during the Autumn War.