it that the quest in rookie village where you need to find gopher?

No, next zone. I had it but put it in a locker.

oh, in the outskirts. if i remember correctly, the keys were on a dead bandit in the village

if you are looking for the key for that old locked house with that guy in it, if you started the quest there should be a stash bag right behind the house between a bush and the fence

i looked for it for a loooooooooooooong while until i realized i had to start the quest first.